Despicable Vs Devoted
by Kyle Wilson
Summary: Just because you can give up a life of crime doesn't mean everyone will believe you. A famous superhero from another city is moving to California as Gru's next door neighbor. Unfortunately, the superhero believes Gru's retirement from villainy is just a cover for another sinister plot. Now on DeviantArt!
1. Sibling Rivalry

**Disclaimer: **

This story was nonprofit and made for entertainment purposes. I do not own Despicable Me.

**Chapter One:**

**Sibling Rivalry**

"You'll never catch me!"

"We'll see about that!"

When we last left off with Gru and co., he just found out he had a twin brother by the name of Dru. They eventually shared a close bond, in spite of Gru's duties with the Anti-Villain League and Dru's desire to continue the family tradition of villainy. But despite their friendliness with each other, Gru still had a job to do bringing villains to justice, and Dru couldn't let the legacy die, so their positions naturally clashed.

Despite this, though, they both had fun in their game of cat and mouse. It helps that neither party was alone. Gru had his wife Lucy as his partner like always, and Dru had recently become the new boss of the Minions, due to sharing their ambitions for villainy. Gru and Lucy always had each other's backs, and the Minions were capable in a fight united, so they were about evenly matched.

Their latest chase occurred downtown, where Dru had just acquired a mysterious ancient relic from the National History Museum that held great promise in terms of money, and was now carrying it in his huge motorcycle. He was, naturally, being pursued by Gru and Lucy, riding motorcycles as well.

As the chase continued, Dru noticed that Gru and Lucy are gaining on him. So the blonde supervillain activated rockets on his motorcycle, and it took to the skies. The adversaries witnessed this and activated their rocket features as well to continue the chase. Now in the air, Dru moved his motorcycle erratically in the hopes of throwing Gru and Lucy off. But the two AVL agents were one step ahead, and copied Dru's movements perfectly, dodging every tall building they came across.

"So far, so good, brother," congratulated an impressed Dru.

It was time to up the game a bit. Dru descended into the city streets to once again throw Gru and Lucy off. As they followed him, Dru raised his vehicle just above the streets before it hit them. This time, Dru had more success. Gru avoided the trap just in time, but Lucy's motorcycle crashed onto the street, causing her to fall onto the asphalt.

"Lucy!" called Gru. He hoped his wife hadn't gotten hurt in that crash. If she had, there goes the fun in their game.

"Go!" urged Lucy. "I'll catch up!"

Gru nodded, reassured his wife was alright, and focused his attention on chasing Dru, once again taking to the skies. Dru turned his motorcycle around and pressed a button on it. It unleashed guns from either side of the vehicle and fired missiles at Gru, who dodged with accuracy.

"I must admit, you are getting better," said Gru.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again," boasted Dru, "somebody's gotta keep the family tradition alive!"

With all the missiles successfully dodged and used up, several Minions with jetpacks took to the skies to assist Dru in the fight. They flew toward Gru's motorcycle, and blasted their jetpacks into his face, leaving it crispy and black. Before Gru could groan about how humiliating that was, he saw Lucy appearing behind him in a small helicopter.

"Need a hand?" she asked, thus making Gru relieved to know Lucy was okay. Then again, that woman was as tough as nails.

With Lucy back in the game, Dru directed the Minions' attention to her by pointing his finger to her. They recognized this as an order to attack and flew toward her as well. Lucy, however, activated a feature on her helicopter that grows mechanical hands, which grabbed the pursuing Minions, rolled them into a ball, and threw them at Dru.

After shrieking like a little girl, Dru quickly moved his vehicle out of the way before the Minion ball could hit him. He didn't pay attention to Gru's vehicle flying behind him and grabbing the stolen relic. When he finally did turn around, Gru already has it in his hands.

"What the-?!" shouted Dru, clearly shocked.

But before Dru could intervene, Gru quickly pulled out a ray gun from nowhere, and blasted it at the relic, making it disappear in a flash of light.

"A teleporting beam, huh?" asked Dru.

"Latest invention," confirmed his brother.

"Very impressive," complimented the blonde villain again. "You're getting better too, brother."

Dru had no idea how right he was when, while he wasn't looking, Lucy threw another Minion ball at Dru's motorcycle, this time causing it to crash and spiral into the clouds. Dru then activated wings on his villain suit—the same one he used when they bonded in Freedonia—and began gliding into the clouds. Gru and Lucy followed Dru with their vehicles as they descended towards the park. They landed their vehicles in the park and found Dru waiting for them with a playful grin and making inviting motions with his hands.

"Don't worry, brother," the playful supervillain promised. "We're almost done."

Gru wasted no time charging at Dru with his fist in the air, but his brother smugly stood where he is, and quickly jumped into the air before Gru could throw a punch at him, activating a giant balloon on his villain suit that helped him float. Dru floated in plain sight of Gru, avoiding each punch thrown at him as he dodged each time his brother gets close.

As the twin brothers fought, Lucy tried to assist her husband, but several chains of four Minions stacked on top of each other apprehended her. Not seeing this as a problem, Lucy responded by throwing punches at them as well, making them all tumble and collapse to the floor. After defeating all of them, she saw Dru descending towards Gru with his floating villain suit, as Gru dodged Dru's kicking attack. Lucy then reaches into her pocket and gets out a strange-looking grenade, labelled "Sleeping Gas".

It was time to end this.

"Nighty-night, Dru!" Lucy called in a singsong voice.

Before Dru could react, Lucy tossed the grenade at her friendly nemesis, and it exploded in the very sleeping gas that the label promised. Lucy quickly got her gas mask from the helicopter so she wouldn't be affected. When the sleeping gas clears, Dru is passed out from the effects, along with the Minions who didn't clear the area.

The AVL agent triumphantly took a good look at her surroundings. The ancient relic was secure, and the perpetrators were unconscious. Gru and Lucy had saved the day.

"Well, Gru," she said, "job well…"

But before she could finish her sentence, she noticed Gru passed out from the sleeping gas as well.

"Oops."

* * *

TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK…

"That's it, Susan. Just focus on the watch. There is nothing but the watch."

If you think these are the words used for hypnotism, you would be correct. For the past whatever, a _very _seductive voice had been telling Susan to focus all of her attention on the golden pocket watch that had been swinging back and forth in front of her face. A seductive voice that belonged to a shady-looking man swinging the watch in one hand, and reading from a book in another. He had a twisted mustache, black top hat, black tuxedo, black bowtie, black pair of dress pants, and black cape with red underneath. In addition, that book looked like a legit spellbook. All these things make him seem like a cliché supervillain straight from a melodramatic silent movie. It was clear that this man was bad news.

Susan desperately wanted to resist the watch and escape his domain. But the way the watch swung as so mesmerizing, she had to do what he says and continue to stare. She couldn't get out of her chair either. It was simply too comfortable, almost like she was sinking into it.

"D-Devan…help…me," groaned Susan with what little free will she had left.

But that didn't seem to make any difference, as the man only continued swinging the watch to lull her deeper into hypnosis.

"Shhhh," he hushed. "Forget about Devan. Forget everything about your husband. All the dates, all the rescues…none of that matters. The only thing that matters is the watch. The shiny, beautiful, wonderful watch. You are lost, Susan, so let the watch guide you…invite you…welcome you to a deep, peaceful sleep."

True to the man's words, the watch was all Susan could think about, and her eyelids were starting to droop. Pretty soon, she would fall into a deep sleep, and this sinister man would be able to make her do whatever he wanted her to. She would be scared about her willpower slowly vanishing, but she was too drowsy to fear anything.

"You're doing great, Susan," the hypnotist soothed. "All that's left is to let your eyes close. You are now under my spell."

With one final push into a trance, Susan's eyes indeed close, as she slumped into her soft chair and let her head droop in her relaxed state, her mouth hanging ajar.

She was under.

The hypnotist was pleased as punch to see what an excellent subject Susan turned out to be. She was now sleeping like a baby, ready to receive hypnotic commands. After putting his watch in his pocket and his book on a nearby table, he proceeded to take the next step.

"Susan," he whispered, "can you hear me?"

Susan nodded her head in her relaxed state, pleasing the evil man even more.

"Excellent," he chuckled. Now that Susan was putty in his hands, it was time to give her hypnotic instructions to follow.

"Your new life is about to begin," the villain instructed. "A life where you don't love the famous superhero Devoted Devan, but the feared supervillain Hypno-Joe. That's me, by the way. It will only be a matter of time before you divorce Devan and become _my _bride. You like that idea, don't you?"

Susan once again nodded her head, letting Hypno-Joe know that yes, she would _definitely_ divorce her superhero husband to be with him. Since the supervillain knew Susan loved Devan to death, he took this as a level of accomplishment.

"Good," Hypno-Joe chuckled. "Now, when I snap my fingers…"

His instructions came to a halt when he sees a bit of drool escaping Susan's open mouth. The sight of the drool disgusted him, and as a neat freak, he wished his subjects wouldn't do that.

"Um…" was Hypno-Joe's uneasy response to the drool. He was good at not letting things that bother him get under his skin, but he wanted to get rid of the drool A.S.A.P.

Quickly, Hypno-Joe grabbed a tissue from the table he put his book on earlier, wiped the drool from Susan's mouth, and tossed the tissue in a nearby trash can. He knew it was time to wrap this up before she started drooling again.

"When I snap my fingers," Hypno-Joe continued, "you will wake up, you will be happy to see me, and you will no longer be devoted to Devoted Devan. You will be…my queen."

And with that, Hypno-Joe decided it was time for the sleeper to awaken to her new love life.

**SNAP!**

At the sound of Hypno-Joe snapping his fingers, Susan immediately snapped her eyes open, lifted her head up, and sat up straight. For a second or two, she didn't do anything but stare, leaving Hypno-Joe to worry. How could he tell if it worked?

The villain's worries melted away when his subject gave an _incredibly _seductive grin on her face.

"Hi, honey," said Susan in an _extremely_ suggestive voice, earning a devious grin from her new lover.

It worked.

Hypno-Joe couldn't believe his luck. He had been trying to make this woman fall for him for the longest time, and now he has succeeded. But just to make sure, he decided to toy with her emotions a little bit.

"Happy to see me?" asked Hypno-Joe, his devilish grin never leaving his face.

At that moment, Susan got out of her chair and began slowly walking toward her new lover with an anguished look on her face, filling him with more and more excitement with each step she took.

"Of course I'm happy to see you," moaned Susan. "Every second I spend without you is agony! I need you!"

Soon, Susan found herself grabbing Hypno-Joe's shoulders and gazing into his eyes, making the supervillain swear he was going to lose it.

"Well," he soothed, "we can't have a gorgeous woman like you in agony. Do with me as you wish."

And that's just what she did. Susan proceeded to grab him by the face and give him the biggest kiss she could muster, which the villain gladly returned. This led to a long making out between the brainwashed woman and her new husband-to-be. A making out that would have felt so wrong for the old Susan, but just right for _this_ Susan.

Hypno-Joe was truly in paradise. He wondered how long he would be able to keep this woman until her husband inevitably comes into the picture and ruins everything, but he would enjoy every second of her kisses and worshiping of him until that happened.

But how long _would_ he get to enjoy it? How long would Susan remain under this horrible man's thrall? How far would their relationship go? Can no one bring Susan out of her hypnotic state? Or is this truly her new life?

* * *

"_Our top story tonight: wanted supervillain Dru Gru was last seen stealing an ancient relic from the National History Museum. Although he and his subordinates were apprehended by law enforcement, the damage they caused in the process may take some time to clean up. In other news, police are still investigating the disappearance of Susan Preston, the wife of superhero Devoted Devan. Eyewitnesses claim to have caught a glimpse of her in the company of a tall man wearing a black suit and top hat. Some claim that this is the work of Hypno-Joe, a supervillain notorious for making women fall in love with him, but this remains unconfirmed. More details as they become available."_

Devan couldn't believe what he was hearing as he sat on the living room couch watching this news report. His beloved wife had been missing for three days, and he was afraid she's been kidnapped by another supervillain. This report was more than enough proof he was right. And of course, it had to be Hypno-Joe, a villain with the power to make you forget everything about who you are.

Obviously, a rescue mission was in order, and Devan knew where Hypno-Joe's lair was…but he was deeply afraid. Not of Hypno-Joe, but of his own wife. There's no doubt she's been made to defend the scoundrel, and will attack her husband if she was commanded to. Would he have to fight his own wife?

This would be far from the first time he had to save Susan from danger, but you never get used to it.

One thing is certain: Hypno-Joe is not going to get away with this.

* * *

_And that was the first chapter of my first story on this site, Despicable Vs. Devoted, a passion project I've been mulling over for the longest time now. It was inspired by a plot I've always wanted to see in a Despicable Me movie. I'll explain more about that later on._

_If you like what I have so far, be sure to review it. I hope you enjoyed it! New chapter soon!_

_Oh, and as you might have noticed, I didn't bother writing Gru and Dru's dialogue in their over-the-top Russian accents. I imagine most people will just imagine their dialogue with their accents anyway._


	2. Devoted Devan to the Rescue

**Chapter 2:**

**Devoted Devan to the Rescue**

The famous superhero Devoted Devan soared through the cloudy skies in search for the evil Hypno-Joe, and his beloved wife Susan. He was fully aware of the challenges that awaited him at the villain's lair, but he was ready to take them on.

Finally, after a few minutes of flying, Devan finds his destination: a spooky castle on top of a tall hill in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dark clouds and lightning. Yep, this was Hypno-Joe's lair, alright.

There was no turning back now. Sweet Susan's free will was at stake.

* * *

Can life get any sweeter for Hypno-Joe? He had made the wife of a superhero fall in love with him, managed to keep her for three days, and was now being fed grapes by her as he got horizontal on his huge couch. As the villain was being spoiled rotten…well, _rottener_, he thought about how he could take their relationship to the next level.

"Oh, my sweet, sweet Joe-Joe," soothed Susan in a sweet voice as she fed him his grapes, "this time together has been the happiest of my life."

"For me as well, Susan," replied Hypno-Joe, enjoying the situation more than he should.

Eventually, they ran out of grapes. But Hypno-Joe didn't care. He had plenty of grapes already. After Susan threw the empty grape bunch in the trash, she helps her villainous lover out of the couch.

"I don't want this night to end," moaned Susan while holding both of his hands.

"It doesn't have to, my dear," soothed Hypno-Joe. "Come with me to the bedroom."

Immediately, the brainwashed woman's eyes lit up, as though she knew exactly what he was implying.

"Oh, I like where this is going," she said.

But before they can pursue the matter any further, they suddenly hear a crashing sound. Taken aback, they turned around and are greeted with the sight of a large, muscular superhero wearing a red suit, blue cape, and two white D's on his chest.

No doubt it was the famous Devoted Devan.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" he bellowed, obviously talking to Hypno-Joe.

Hypno-Joe didn't seem too surprised to see his nemesis again. Instead, he just looked at him smugly, like he was confident there was nothing Devan could do. Susan, meanwhile, was angry when she recognized it was what once was her husband. Devan could tell that she hated to see him thanks to the hypnosis, and it broke his heart.

"Well, look who it is, Susan," said Hypno-Joe. "Your former love, Devoted Devan. There's a door here, you know."

Ignoring the villain's taunts (and entrance criticisms), Devan furiously grabbed him and held him close, the criminal not wiping his smug grin off his face.

"How dare you hypnotize my wife?!" screamed the angry superhero.

"'Hypnotize' is such an ugly word," replied Hypno-Joe smugly.

Before Devan could bash the perp's face in, he found himself choking on his cape, forcing him to drop Hypno-Joe. He turned around and saw it was Susan tugging on his cape to stop him and defend the villain.

Just as Devan feared.

"Leave us alone, Devan!" demanded Susan. "We're over!"

But Devan wouldn't leave them alone. He had a job to do. He broke his cape free from Susan's grasp, causing her to let go.

"Susan, fight it!" begged the super, no longer feeling angry, but genuinely scared for his wife's well-being.

Susan got out her purse and began mercilessly whacking Devan with her purse. As the fight continued, Hypno-Joe happily watched. His nemesis was clearly holding back, and his brainwashed subject was not.

Eventually, Devan snatched the purse from his entranced wife and threw it on the floor. Then he grabbed both of Susan's arms and held onto her while floating.

"Susan, please!" pleased Devan. "We have a beautiful child!"

"I don't care!" retorted Susan. "I'm divorcing you!"

Susan kicked Devan in the shin, causing him to drop Susan. He was hurt, devastated, and humiliated all at once.

"Curse you, Hypno-Joe!" bellowed Devan, feeling angry again.

Hypno-Joe was having too much fun watching the fight to be intimidated by this.

Susan grabbed a nearby lamp and broke it. She then held the broken lamp threateningly at Devan, slowly backing him into a corner.

Is this it? Was Susan going to kill her own husband?

"I love Joe, Devan," she said coldly, "not you."

Finally, Devan has had enough. He knew Susan wasn't going to back off if he held back, so as much as he didn't want to, he knew there was only one thing that could help her now.

"Sorry about this, honey," he quietly apologized, before quickly giving her a huge punch in the face, sending her flying across the room and knocking her unconscious.

"Woah," was Hypno-Joe's surprised reaction. He was quite taken aback by Devan actually using brute force against his own wife, even though he was forced to. He even sort of hoped Devan didn't hit Susan hard enough to kill her, mostly because he still wanted her as his wife.

Concerned, Devan flew up to his unconscious wife to see if she was okay. She fluttered her eyes open and looked up at Devan, making him feel relieved and nervous at the same time. Was she going to attack him again?

"D-Devan?" she groaned "What happened?"

Words could not describe how happy Devan was to hear that. That blow to the head has vanquished the hold that Hypno-Joe had over her. And the fact that she wondered what happened made him ten times happier, because that means she didn't remember the horrible things that monster made her do.

Thankful to have his beloved sweetheart back, he gave her a warm smile as he grabbed her hand and helped her up. After which, she started to feel almost ashamed of herself.

"I was hypnotized, wasn't I?" she asked meekly. She didn't want her husband to be mad at or scared of her.

But, how could he?

"Yes, you were," Devan replied, "but you're back now."

Reassured and relieved that there were no hard feelings, Susan gave the sweetest smile.

"My hero," she thanked.

The happy couple wasted no time giving each other the most passionate kiss they could muster. After three grueling days, they were finally reunited, and they couldn't be more over the moon.

Hypno-Joe, meanwhile, was not a happy camper. But then again, how does one expect a defeated supervillain who just lost his love puppet to be happy? As he watched Susan's lips make contact to those of his nemesis, he couldn't help but grow envious of their happy relationship.

Devan and Susan then turned to the villain in anger as soon as they were finished kissing.

"You know you're going to do time for this," Devan coldly reminded.

"We're not finished yet," said Hypno-Joe.

Hypno-Joe had no idea how wrong he was when, like a flash of lightning, several policemen, including the chief, burst into his domain, pointing their guns at their target.

"FREEZE!" shouted one of the policemen. "DON'T MOVE!"

This startled the supervillain into putting his hands up in the air, while shrieking like a little girl, which Devan and Susan couldn't help but chuckle at.

"Well, I guess we are," admitted Hypno-Joe.

It was then that the police chief read the charges and got their handcuffs ready to put onto Hypno-Joe's arms.

"Hypno-Joe," the police chief said, "you are under arrest for the kidnapping and brainwashing of Susan Preston!"

Hypno-Joe wasn't stupid. He knew when there was no getting away from the law when he was outnumbered, so he allowed them to place their handcuffs onto him and escort him to jail.

"Yes, yes, I know the procedure for arrest," said Hypno-Joe. "I am a notorious supervillain, you know."

The police took Hypno-Joe away with absolutely no difficulty at all. With their tormentor in custody, Susan and Devan are given some time alone, which they used to celebrate their wondrous reunion.

"Thank you for saving me again, Devvy," said Susan sweetly.

"I would never let any harm befall you, my dear," assured her husband. "Come, let us go tell our son you're okay."

Devan took Susan by the hand and flew her out of Hypno-Joe's lair through the hole he left on the ceiling earlier. From there, it was nothing but smooth sailing back home, where their anxious son will surely be happy to know his mother is now hypnosis-free.

* * *

The Anti-Villain League Prison has given Dru and the Minions permission to chat with their agents in the phone booths. We wish we could say their conversations were civil, but for the most part, it was nothing but the Minions spouting angry gibberish from their cells to the various AVL agents. If the agents understood what they were saying, chances are they would be offended.

Lucy agreed that she would return home to the girls while Gru chatted with his twin brother. Thankfully for Gru, Dru's conversation with his nemesis was far more civil and friendly than any of the Minions'. Although that's not hard to accomplish, given his affable personality, and the fact that they were his family at the end of the day. It's safe to say that the Minions could learn something from their new boss.

"So good fight, eh?" asked Gru.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, brother!" said Dru. "You know I'm gonna break out of prison, so we can do it again!"

"Just don't go crazy with the missiles next time, okay?" said Gru.

"I make no promises," reminded Dru. "So, do you have any plans until then?"

"Well," explained Gru, "we're expecting new neighbors when we get home. One of them is a superhero that I fought a long time ago. Delicious Dennis, I think his name was."

"Ah, Devoted Devan," said Dru in his usual ecstatic tone. "I've heard of him. He's famous! He's been fighting crime and saving lives for as long as anyone can remember! In fact, just recently, he saved his wife from the evil Hypno-Joe!"

"He was also Lucy's best friend when they were kids," said Gru. "His work as a superhero even back then inspired her to train for the AVL. So naturally, she wants to give him a big Gru family welcome."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful," complimented Dru warmly. "Do the girls know about this?

"Yes," replied Gru. "Lucy told them the story of how they became friends, and they want to say hi to our new neighbors too."

Now Dru was curious. It was clear that he had a lot of respect for the beloved superhero in spite of his ambition to continue the family tradition, and while he knew of Devan's accomplishments, he didn't know about his friendship with Lucy.

"Soooooo…. how _did_ they become friends?" Dru excitedly asked.

"Well," Gru began, "it all started when Lucy was in fourth grade. Devan was three grades ahead of her."

From that moment on, as Gru told the story of Devan and Lucy's friendship, Dru sat intensely, holding onto every word like an excited kid being read a bedtime story.

* * *

And while Gru was explaining the story to Dru, Lucy was explaining the story to her daughters. Margo, Edith, and Agnes were all huddled together with their mother on the living room couch as she showed them pictures of herself and Devan on her school yearbook.

"I first met Devan at recess, where he was wowing everybody with his hero work," she explained. "He seemed like a decent kid, but I was far too shy to even so much as approach him. That all changed a few days later when he did something wonderful. I finally solved my Rubik's cube after spending so much time on it, but then a bully took it from me and destroyed it before my eyes. I was devastated…until Devan swooped into action and fixed the Rubik's cube for me, _and_ ratted the bully out to the teachers. At that moment, I knew we would be the best of friends. We did everything together. Had all the same classes. Helped each other any way we could. He was like a big brother to me. For years, we were inseparable. We got out of touch after graduation, but I would always remember his heroic deeds. I knew that one day, I would be a hero…like Devoted Devan."

By the time Lucy finished her story and closed the book, the girls were in awe. They had heard the story before, but they loved it each time.

Of course, the other reason Lucy trained for the AVL was because a villain killed her parents, but for obvious reasons, she didn't feel comfortable talking about this in front of her daughters.

"I always love hearing that story, mom," complimented Margo.

Lucy smiled at this. After at least a good year of living with Gru and Lucy, the girls finally got out of the habit of calling their dad "Gru" and their mom "Lucy," and they loved it.

"And now you _are_ a hero," added Agnes, earning a really sweet smile from her mother. "You work for the AVL!"

"I still can't believe you were best friends with a superhero," said Edith. "How cool is that?!"

Lucy gave a light chuckle at this. Of course her ninja-loving middle daughter would like that idea.

"And now he's gonna be our new neighbor!" Agnes cheerfully shouted.

"When's he gonna get here?" asked Margo, trying not to sound impatient.

"Soon, girls," replied Lucy. "Soon…"

And so, the four females waited for Devoted Devan and his family to arrive to their neighborhood. They didn't know how long they would wait, but there were plenty of things for them to talk about to keep themselves occupied until then.

* * *

_And thus concludes the second chapter of Despicable Vs. Devoted, where the brave superhero was successful in rescuing his wife from the evil Hypno-Joe. You will meet their son in the next chapter._

_Honestly, the concept of a superhero in the Despicable Me universe was something I wish was explored in the first movie. The lack of superheroes to rise up against Gru while he was planning dastardly schemes bothered the heck out of me since day one. Think about it. If Megamind had Metro Man, why couldn't Gru get a superhero nemesis too? And ironically enough, when the second movie DOES show a hero in the form of the AVL, Gru has given up villainy!_

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. If you did, be sure to review and favorite it! See you in chapter three!_


	3. California, Here We Come

_**Trigger Warning:** There are brief mentions of pregnancy and ahem..."nights in bed" in this chapter. I tried my best to make them subtle, but if you find these things disturbing nonetheless, read with caution. But more importantly, I apologize for the references to the Minions movie. Anyway, e__njoy the chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

**California, Here We Come**

The flight back home had been nothing but apologies from Susan to her heroic husband as he carried her in his arms, and him reassuring her she had absolutely _nothing_ to be sorry about. She _was_ being controlled by Hypno-Joe, after all. Despite this, Susan was afraid that she…did things with Hypno-Joe, and insisted on getting a pregnancy test as soon as they got home, to which Devan agreed. But right now, letting their son know she was okay was priority number one.

When the couple arrived home, they found him sitting in front of the television while it was off, looking sad. It was clear he was still thinking about his missing mother, and his parents weren't going to let him stay upset any longer.

"Alex, I'm hoooome!" announced Susan in a singsong voice.

This immediately got his attention as he recognized her voice and turned his head around to see her, letting out a huge gasp as he did so.

"Mom!" cried Alex.

Alex did not hesitate to jump out of the couch and run up to Susan. As he did, Susan knelt to his level, and the two gave each other a big hug as Devan happily watched.

"Oh Mom," sighed the overjoyed teenager, "you've been gone for so long…"

After what felt like an eternal hug, they finally let go as Devan knelt down to Alex's level too.

"Hey, come on," reassured Susan, "I wouldn't miss the big move for the world."

This immediately made Alex unhappy again. He just remembered his family was moving to California, meaning he would have to leave his home, school, and friends behind.

"Oh yeah, that," he said, dejected.

His parents could tell from the tone in his voice that he wasn't looking forward to moving—after just getting his mother back, no less—and thought about what to say to him to make him feel a little bit better about it. His literal superdad was the first to break the ice.

"Now, son," he said gently with his hand on his shoulder, "we know this move is going to be a big change for you, but it's for a good cause. There's a notorious supervillain living somewhere in California, and as a superhero, it is my duty to take him down."

"Does that necessarily translate to moving?" asked Alex, still not entirely reassured.

"Well," said Susan encouragingly, "one of our neighbors is an old friend of your father's, and he wants to see her again. Plus, she works for the Anti-Villain League, so you know it's a safe community."

This seemed to lift Alex's spirits, just a little bit.

"Well," he said, "I've always wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge up close…when it's not being attacked by monsters, that is."

"That's the spirit!" encouraged Devan. "Now, go pack your things. We leave in three hours."

Alex did what his father asked and was on his way to his room.

"You can take your MP3 player with you!" added Susan.

"Thanks, mom," Alex called back.

* * *

The trip to California was about as fun as a moving trip can get. Devan and Susan helped Alex pack his things, and they were ready to go. Well, as ready as one can be in Alex's case. He still wasn't keen on moving to a whole new place and leaving his old one behind. He was thankful his mother gave him permission to bring his MP3 player as he rode in the passenger seat next to Susan as she drove the SUV to their destination. That helped makes this move slightly more bearable. Music was the boy's life, and he had dreams of becoming a singer when he grows up.

To help himself get into the moving spirit, he set his device to play "California" by Phantom Planet. It was the first song that came to his mind when he thought of this big thing that he knew had been coming. As the song played, he softly sang along.

_We've been on the run_

_Driving in the sun_

_Looking out for number one_

_California here we come_

_Right back where we started from_

_Hustlers grab your guns_

_Your shadow weighs a ton_

_Driving down the 101_

_California here we come_

_Right back where we started from_

_California here we come_

Susan was not at all bothered by Alex's singing. It wasn't disrupting her driving, and after her ordeal with Hypno-Joe, she wanted to hear his singing voice again. Oh, and she wasn't pregnant either. The pregnancy test said so.

As Alex continued to sing and Susan continued to drive, they looked out the window and noticed a giant moving truck being carried by Devan as it flew through the sky—obviously meant to be for their new home. Alex waved to his father, and he nodded back. It was amazing that he was able to fly with that thing on his shoulders, even if he was a superhero.

* * *

As Lucy and the girls continued to wait for their new neighbors to arrive, they had plenty of things to talk about as they waited. One of these things were their earlier encounter with Dru in his theft from the National History Museum.

"You guys weren't too hard on Uncle Dru, were you?" asked Agnes.

Lucy saw the worry in her youngest daughter's eyes. She knew that the girls still loved their uncle to death despite his position, and knew he loved them too.

"Of course not, sweetie," Lucy reassured, "but he is going to have to stay in prison for a while."

"Along with the Minions, right?" asked Margo, earning a small nod from her mother.

"Great," grumbled Edith. "Now we're stuck with the chores."

"Yep," chuckled Lucy. "Sorry."

Suddenly, the four females heard a loud beeping sound from behind them. They turn around, looked out the window, and saw a moving truck.

The wait was finally over.

"It's him!" squealed Agnes.

"I can't wait to meet him!" said Margo excitedly.

The girls were all ready to run out that door and meet the super, but Lucy motioned them to stop for a minute.

"Now, girls," she said, "when you go say hi to him, I want you to be on your best behavior. You know what that means, Edith."

Lucy's attention turned to her middle daughter, who she knew was prone to mischief and misbehaving, as her tone turned more serious.

"I know," said Edith meekly, "no name-calling his enemies."

"That's right," confirmed Lucy.

Edith grumbled under her breath. How dare her mother take that right away from her!

The SUV has been parked in front of the garage of their new house, where Fred McDade used to live. Susan and Alex exited their vehicle to see the moving truck pulled up to the curb, as Alex put his MP3 player in his pocket.

Devan particularly seemed interested in the large house they were living next to. It was not like the other houses. It was huge in comparison, and it was purple, while the other houses were white. It didn't even look like a regular house. It looked more like a haunted mansion.

"That house looks awfully familiar," pondered the superhero.

His thoughts were distracted as soon as he heard a familiar voice.

"Devan!"

He turned around, and there she was. Lucy Wilde, his best friend from years ago, accompanied by three small girls, obviously her children.

"Lucy!" he shouted happily.

The two old friends quickly gave each other a big hug for the first time in what felt like forever.

"So good to see you again, my truest friend!" sighed Devan as soon as they let go. "Still working at the Anti-Villain League?"

"Sure am," confirmed Lucy. "My husband and I just caught another villain. Third one this week."

"And who are these lovely little angels?" asked Susan, clearly indicating the girls.

The girls then introduced themselves to their new neighbors.

"I'm Margo."

"I'm Edith."

"And I'm Agnes!"

"Hi, girls," greeted Susan. "I'm Devan's wife, Susan. And this is our son, Alex. Say hi, Alex."

But there was no way Alex could say hi at the moment. All of his attention was drawn to Margo. _All_ of his attention. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was tall, she was slim, she was sophisticated, she had the biggest smile on her face, and those glasses made her so darned cute. She just seemed perfect in every way. Suffice to say, Alex was lovestruck.

"Hello," was all Alex could say in his dumbfounded state.

Margo could tell something was off about Alex, and looked concerned.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Alex quickly shook his head to pull himself together. He felt a little embarrassed by his brief dreamy trance and wanted to make a good first impression with his new neighbors.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Just tuned out a little, that's all. Sorry about that, M…Margo. That's your name, right?"

"Yep," confirmed Margo, making Alex feel proud that he got her name right after barely hearing it once.

With introductions done, Margo turned to Devan to properly converse with him.

"Let me just say upfront that it is an honor to be living next door to a superhero," she said.

Margo's maturity made Devan chuckle.

"Well, my blushes," he replied.

"We have so many questions, Devoted Devan!" said Agnes in her usual excitable way.

"Did you kick anybody's butt recently?!" asked Edith eagerly.

"He sure did," chuckled Susan. "Come on, let's go set our stuff up. We'll answer all your questions when we're finished."

And with that, the Prestons head to the moving truck to collect their things.

"We'll help you," said Lucy.

The AVL agent and her daughters then got started in aiding their new neighbors move their things.

* * *

Prison is no fairytale world, they say, and that was the case for Hypno-Joe. He sat on the uncomfortable cot in his tiny cell, thinking about the way Devoted Devan defeated him and took Susan back. He had to admit, three days with her as his love slave was a good record for him. He had even gotten in a few nights in bed with her. But he wished he could have had her for a little longer.

"Failure again," he sulked. "I'm starting to wonder if Susan will ever be my wife."

Of all the women he forced to fall in love with him, Susan was the most gorgeous. He wanted to start a criminal empire with her. And now he was starting to have his doubts if he would ever get the chance.

"When did superheroes get so hard to defeat?" he sighed. "Everything's 'you're under arrest' this, and 'thank you for saving me, mwah, mwah, mwah' that. What happened to the good old days when villains could do whatever they wanted with no law enforcement to get in their way?"

Hypno-Joe then stared at the ceiling as he continued to contemplate his easier life.

"Man," he continued, "I haven't had times like that since…last Villain Con!"

Hypno-Joe then reached into his top hat and got out several small photographs. Photographs of himself at Villain Con when he was younger. He saw himself with some of the best of the worst people.

"Yes…Villain Con," he sighed as he reminisced. "The last one they had before it was unfortunately shut down. Why, I remember buying the Big Book of Hypnotism from this very place."

It was true. The Big Book of Hypnotism, the book that taught him to alter peoples' memories and tear families apart, was purchased at a gathering of supervillains. Makes perfect sense, when one thinks about it. And of course, he was looking at the photo with that very same book as he said this.

But the photo that truly caught Hypno-Joe's eye was the one with himself and Gru. They were both around the same age as each other at that time.

"And there's Gru," he said. "Now, _there_ was a villain. Truly one of the greats. He taught me everything I know about villainy."

Immediately, he thought back to what Gru said at Villain Con that day.

_There is nothing you can't steal if you put your black heart to it!_

"Gru and me against the world," Hypno-Joe said, "just like it should be. It's a shame we couldn't get together much, but I will always remember those inspiring stories of his heists. Maybe…maybe it's time to relive those glory days."

The incarcerated villain gave a dark chuckle at this. He was thinking about how he would get out of prison. How he would meet his idol once again. How he would beat his three-day record with Susan. But most importantly, how he would wreak further havoc.

* * *

_Stay tuned for chapter four, where I finally kick the "beloved superhero neighbors with a once-feared supervillain" plot in the butt._


	4. Bad First Impressions

**Chapter 4:**

**Bad First Impressions**

It took a while, but with a little help from Lucy and her daughters, the Prestons finally had all of their belongings and furniture set up for their new home. From the antiques to Alex's music supplies, you name it, they had it. Now they were all sitting together in the living room, speaking amongst each other after a job well done.

"We really appreciate you guys helping us move our things," thanked Susan.

"It was the least we could do," said Lucy, "and I wanted to make my best friend feel welcome to the neighborhood."

"So, you said you have a husband who works at the AVL too?" asked Susan.

"That's right, and he's _really_ good at his job," replied Lucy, almost feeling like she was bragging on Gru's behalf.

"He was the one who adopted us, you know," added Margo, "before marrying our mom."

"A hero and a homemaker," said Devan. "You are all just full of surprises. I simply must meet this man!"

"You're gonna like him, Devoted Devan!" proclaimed Agnes.

"You can just call me Devan, if you'd like," Devan gently reminded.

"Oh," said Agnes. "Okay, 'Devan if you'd like.'"

While all the parents chuckled at Agnes' attempt to be cute, Alex and Margo were caught up in a conversation of their own. It started as soon as Alex noticed the giant Super Mario head on Margo's shirt.

"I really like your shirt, Margo," complimented Alex.

"Thanks," replied Margo. "It was a Christmas present. Do you like Mario?"

"Yes," said Alex, "I am quite fond of Mario."

"Me too," said Margo. "What else do you like?"

Alex was amazed he was keeping his composure for as long as he was. This beautiful girl was not only talking to him, but also getting to know him.

"I like…singing," Alex shyly admitted.

"That's great," said Margo. "Have you been practicing?"

"Yeah," said Alex. "I make my own music sheets and save them. Brought them on the way here."

"Cool," complimented Margo. "You ought to show them to me sometime."

Alex was once again keeping his composure as best as he could, but inside, he was over the moon. Writing songs was his pride and joy, and now this lovely angel is interested in his work? This girl was getting better and better! Maybe adjusting to Miami won't be so hard after all.

By this point, the adults and the other girls have taken notice of Margo and Alex's bonding. The parents' smiles when they saw this was innocent enough, but Edith and Agnes were pretty sure their older sister was falling in love again, and both had different views on the matter.

"Aww…" said Agnes in the sweetest voice.

"Eww," exclaimed a disgusted Edith. "Devan, where's your bathroom?"

"Edith," warned Lucy in a stern parental voice.

"So, Lucy," said Susan, wanting to change the subject, "can we go meet your husband?

"Sure," agreed Lucy. "He should be back by now."

* * *

Gru finally got back from chatting with Dru, and was now cleaning up the house with a feather duster in preparation for the new neighbors. He knew his wife would want to introduce them to the ex-villain, despite the battles he had with Devoted Devan those years ago, so he figured he might as well make the place look nice. A task that has proven to be harder with the Minions in AVL prison. This also meant more chores for the girls in the near-future. That was probably not how they wanted to spend their summer vacation, but they needed to learn about hard work.

He had to admit, he was worried about what Devan would say when they met face to face again. Would he know about Gru working for the AVL and let bygones be bygones, or would he fall under the "once evil, always evil" mentality and think the AVL was a cover? The latter was unfortunately likely, given how many villains have a bad habit of pretending to change and using legitimate businesses as cover, like El Macho with Salsa & Salsa. He tried to shake off those terrible things and convince himself that everything would be fine…but it was quite a difficult task.

Amidst the cleaning, Gru came across the wall near the front entrance where various newspaper clippings were hung. Newspaper clippings that contained the headlines "VILLAIN OF THE YEAR!", "GRU STRIKES AGAIN!", and "WHAT WILL HE DO NEXT?". This unnerved the AVL agent. He was still trying to put his felonious past behind him. How did he miss those stupid reports of his past crimes? After immediately taking the headlines down, Gru resumed cleaning, awaiting Devoted Devan's inevitable arrival.

* * *

Lucy led the line as she, her daughters, and their new neighbors walked to Gru's house. She couldn't wait to introduce her heroic best friend to her husband. Devan was excited to meet him too, which was ironic, since he didn't know who he was yet. The excitement, however, began to fade the closer they got to the spooky-looking house. Were they walking into a trap?

Margo and Alex, meanwhile, were still bonding over things they liked as they walked to the house with the others.

"You like Dr. Seuss?" asked an amazed Alex. "Wow, _I_ like Dr. Seuss!"

"I know, right?" said Margo. "I think The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas are my favorite stories."

"Of course they are," muttered Edith under her breath.

Finally, everyone made it to the front door at Gru's house, and Lucy rang the doorbell to get Gru out here.

"Oh Gruuuuu!" she called in a singsong voice, "our new neighbors are heeeeeere!"

At the mention of that name, Devan started to become anxious. Could this be _the_ Gru?

"That name," he said to himself.

"I'll be right there, honey!" answered Gru in the same singsong voice. "Just finishing up cleaning the hoooouuuuse!"

"That voice," said Devan, becoming even more anxious. "It can't be!"

"Devvy, are you okay?" asked Susan, who could tell something was wrong with her husband.

But before Devan could answer (which he might not have been able to anyway in his paranoid state), the door opened, and out _he_ comes.

Gru stepped out of the house with a nervous smile on his face, as though sensing that something very bad was going to happen. Lucy, however, was oblivious to Devan's paranoia and skipped right to the introductions.

"Gru, Devoted Devan," she said. "Devoted Devan, Gru."

Lucy finally saw something's wrong with Devan as he hyperventilated rapidly upon laying eyes on the ex-villain. His mere presence was a trigger from his past failures—failures to stop Gru. His mind flashed back to all those times he failed to prevent Gru from stealing all those national landmarks and earning ransom from them, all while Devan was trapped in a block of ice and taunted.

Unable to contain his rage any longer, Devan snapped, flew up to Gru, and forcefully grabbed him by his shirt, suspending him in the air, alarming Lucy, Susan, and the kids.

"Hey, what the-?" was all Gru could say as he was being lifted into the air.

"You monster!" screamed Devan. "You took everything I loved from me!"

"What are you doing?!" shrieked a scared Agnes.

"I'm not a villain anymore!" insisted Gru, even though he knew full well that wasn't going to make the superhero happy.

"That's what they all say!" replied Devan—yep. "But no villain I have ever fought has ever truly meant it! NO VILLAIN!"

Devan violently threw Gru to the ground. He was not at all gentle, which scared the witnesses even more.

"Devan, stop!" pleaded Lucy. "He really _has_ given up on villainy!"

But this did nothing to stop Devan, only making him angrier as he kicked Gru while he was down—literally.

"This only proves my point!" he bellowed. "How dare you brainwash my best friend?!"

"What?!" shrieked a befuddled Gru.

Devan wasn't done with Gru as he grabbed Gru's legs and tosses him all over the ground like a rag doll. Every impact he made on the ground hurt more than the last.

"Stop!" called a scared Margo. "You're hurting our dad!"

Devan once again refused to listen and continued to attack Gru.

"To brainwash three innocent children as well!" accused Devan. "What kind of slave work did you make them do, huh?!"

Gru let out at indignant gasp at this. Was Devan really in a position to accuse him of doing that to his own kids?

"You were the one villain I could never truly defeat," said Devan, "but that's about to change…"

Gru cringed as Devan was about to land a punch on him, when he was suddenly electrocuted and started jerking uncontrollably. Everyone turned their heads to see Lucy in possession of her lipstick taser. No guesses as to what happened when Devan wasn't looking.

When Lucy was finished electrocuting Devan and he fell to the ground, she runs up to her panting husband to check on him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I…I think so," panted Gru.

Suddenly, Devan got up, and before Lucy could take a swipe at him, he flew above her out of everyone's reach. Turned out that lipstick taser didn't that much damage to a super.

"So, that's how it is, huh?!" bellowed Devan, getting everyone's attention. "Program your brainwashed loved ones to protect you from anyone who dares to try and save them. Well, I'll give you a break today, villain, but one way or another, you are finally going down!"

With his piece said, Devan flew back into his new house, leaving everyone around them shocked. Alex and Susan took a few minutes to apologize to their neighbors before they went back in the house with the angry super.

"So sorry about that, you guys," said Alex.

"He's really a good person," said Susan.

Susan and Alex followed Devan to the house, leaving the Grus to process what just happened. The famous superhero Devoted Devan had just attacked Gru and accused him of the very evil lifestyle he had long been done with.

"Oooookay," commented Margo, "that was weird."

"DRAMA QUEEN!" yelled Edith.

The one who was most affected by the outburst was Gru. He was afraid that something like this would happen, and now here he was. He shouldn't be surprised by this, and he wasn't. If anything, he was hurt, physically _and_ emotionally. Part of him wanted to believe that everyone would forget about his past crimes and let bygones be bygones, in spite of the odds.

But that was not the case, and he felt miserable about it. So miserable in fact, he didn't even have the heart to scold Edith for her rudeness.


	5. Dreams

**Chapter 5:**

**Dreams**

Night fell at the Gru residence, and the girls and their pets were fast asleep. Gru himself, however, had trouble getting to sleep. He was too busy processing the reality of what just happened today. The famous Devoted Devan had just unleashed a no-holds-barred beatdown on him in full view of both of their families. Now, here he was, the unhappiness he felt in his villain life returning with a vengeance. That was even worse than the bumps and bruises he took in the attack. How the girls were able to sleep at night with this knowledge was anyone's guess.

"My worst fears have been confirmed," Gru solemnly sighed.

His wife was continuously rubbing her hand on his back to comfort him. Even though it wasn't intentional, she still felt guilty for indirectly leading to Devan's attack.

"Oh, Gru-Gru," she soothed softly, "I'm so sorry about that. I had no idea Devoted Devan would…"

"It's okay, honey," Gru interrupted. "It's not your fault. It's mine. For being such a villain all those years."

"Don't talk like that," Lucy said, unable to watch her husband beat himself up. "I'm sure you did some pretty bad things in the past, but all that is behind you now. Even if Devan doesn't believe it yet."

"I really wanted to make things work with this guy," Gru admitted. "I know he was your best friend."

"The best friend I could ever ask for," said Lucy. "He inspired me to train for the AVL. And that incident aside, I was happy to see him again."

"How did you two lose touch again?" asked Gru.

"Simple," replied Lucy. "We graduated. We went our separate ways, and he married Susan. Don't worry, I didn't like him romantically. That's not what you were thinking, is it?"

"Oh, uh…of course not," lied Gru.

Lucy gave Gru a sly smile, as though sensing when he's lying. There was no way a guy like Gru didn't think she was romantically involved with him. But she shook away those petty thoughts. They weren't important.

"Gru," she said, "I want you and Devan to become friends too. Bury the old hatchet."

"Believe me, Lucy," said Gru, "I want to more than anything…but I have a feeling it won't be so easy. I mean, according to him, I'm not the only villain claimed to have given up villainy."

Lucy nodded her head. She had to admit, the irrational super had a point there.

"Yeah," she agreed, "unfortunately, there are a lot of villains that claim to have changed, then continue to do terrible things…but that doesn't mean people don't change period. You remember that one villain we fought that stole all the Maui heads in the Easter Islands?"

Gru nodded his head as she said this. It was all coming back to him. The Easter Islands…it reminded Gru of that Easter Bunny movie he rented for the girls shortly after he adopted them.

"Oh, now I remember," he said. "He put them all back and turned himself in after you gave him that heartwarming speech. Like you're doing to me right now."

"Exactly," Lucy laughed at this, "people _do_ change. Don't worry, honey bear. In time, Devoted Devan _will_ see the side of Gru that I married."

Reassured by this, Gru gave Lucy the brightest smile he could give. She then gave her husband a peck on the cheek, glad to finally see him smile again.

"Now, let's get some sleep," Lucy tiredly said, as they both get into the bed covers and went to sleep. Well, _tried_ to in Gru's case.

* * *

And unfortunately, Gru wasn't the only one having a horrible night. While Susan was sleeping soundly, Devan was having a nightmare, made evident by him tossing and turning in his sleep with the most anxious look on his face.

_Lucy's hands were restrained to the arms of a metal chair as she was helplessly staring at a giant monitor displaying a hypnotic spiral pattern. She was mesmerized by the pattern and unable to look away. _

_Gru casually walked up to the hypnotized Lucy with a smug grin on his face. He was preparing to give her hypnotic instructions to follow._

"_So, Lucy," he said sinisterly, "who do you choose to marry?"_

"_I…choose…Gru," droned Lucy in a trancelike tone._

"_Yes," Gru chuckled, enjoying every second of this highly trained spy under his thrall, "and why do you choose Gru?"_

"_You are the greatest villain of all time," droned Lucy._

"_And what are we going to do with our adopted children?" asked Gru._

"_We are going to raise them to be villains," droned Lucy. "They will wreak havoc in your name."_

"_Devoted Devan will never stop us," laughed Gru, "will he, my dear?"_

"_No," droned Lucy, "he won't. Because I will __**kill him.**__"_

Devan flung himself from his nightmare as he finds himself wide awake, sitting upright and panting up a storm. His wife was still sleeping soundly next to him. He wondered how she could sleep through his pain.

"My poor best friend," he quietly panted so as not to wake up his wife. "I hope Alex is having more pleasant dreams than I."

* * *

Thankfully, Devan's wish came true, as Alex was sleeping soundly with the happiest smile on his face.

_Prince Alex of the Preston Kingdom was under attack by a giant dragon. It was menacing his castle, making it cle__ar that it wanted his blood. The terrified prince recoiled in fear, truly believing all hope was lost._

_As luck would have it, it wasn't. He heard the trotting of a horse headed to the castle. Prince Alex and the dragon turned to see that on the noble steed was the brave Lady Margo, holding her tall sword up, clearly intending to fight the dragon. The prince was relieved to see her, but the dragon furiously breathed fire at its challenger. Thinking quickly, Lady Margo blocked the fire as her horse continued to trot toward the castle._

_She finally made it to the castle, filled with determination to continue the fight. It was clear that if Lady Margo wanted to save her beloved prince, she would have to get through the dragon. She leaped out of her horse as it stopped, striking a fighting pose with her sword._

_The monster attacked again by attempting to crush the brave knight with its giant hand, but she dodged. She continued to dodge each time the dragon tried to crush her. Not even trying to fry her with its breath could stop her. Prince Alex watched the battle from the window, hoping his hero would prevail._

_Finally, after a daring and dangerous battle, Lady Margo finished off the beast by plunging her sword at its heart. In its final moments, the slain dragon attempted to take its victor with it by crushing her with its body. But once again, and for the final, Lady Margo dodged the attack just in time._

_The prince was overjoyed that the horrible monster had been vanquished and the gallant knight was safe. Said knight, likewise, was happy that her prince was alive and well. Without a second thought, she ran into the castle, traversing through the castle's many corridors and stairs to meet her benevolent prince._

_At long last, Prince Alex and Lady Margo were in the same room. Over the moon to be together, the prince and knight gave each other the most passionate kiss._

* * *

The next morning, Devoted Devan had made it top priority to head to the police station and report his supposedly evil neighbor. He had been lucky to not have been arrested by the authorities for his past crimes, but that luck was going to run out if Devan had anything to say about it. Unfortunately for him, the police report didn't go as planned. For starters, the police chief didn't even seem to know who Devan was talking about, which annoyed the frustrated super to no end.

"You want to file a report against who?" asked the police chief.

"Gru," replied Devan, the annoyance evident in his tone of voice. "Felonious Gru. The one villain I could never truly best. He brainwashed my best friend Lucy Wilde into marrying him! The nerve of that guy!"

"I see," said the chief, who was clearly rolling his eyes at the super's hamminess. "And where's your evidence?"

"The evidence is here," replied Devan, pointing at his stomach, "inside my gut. I know in my heart that Gru forced Lucy to marry him! My best friend would never marry a supervillain! What more evidence could you possibly need?!"

It didn't seem like the chief was buying Devan's testimony, and for good reason.

"Devan," he said as tried his best to remain down-to-earth, "you know we love everything that you do for the world, but with all due respect, we don't know who this Gru person is."

"How could you not?!" spluttered the flabbergasted super. "He's the greatest villain of all time! The villain all villains strived to be!"

"Including Hypno-Joe over there?" asked the chief as he pointed Devan to his cell, which was conveniently right next to them.

Hypno-Joe remained in his cell, scowling at Devan. He wanted to send a nonverbal message to the super that he would escape from prison one way or another. Devan didn't seem to get the message as he scowled back, before resuming his conversation with the chief.

"_Especially_ Hypno Joe!" said Devan. "I hear they were even in cahoots at some points!"

"Sorry to tell you this," said the chief, again remaining down-to-earth, "but with no evidence, there's not a lot we can do."

Devan huffed with defeat at this. It was clear that Gru wasn't going to prison anytime soon, as long as there was _somehow_ no evidence to convict him on. But that was not going to stop the super as he went into drama mode once again.

"Very well," he said. "Perhaps we can't incarcerate Gru just yet. But mark my words, I will look for evidence, I will save my best friend and those children, and that evil neighbor will finally get what's coming to him! He will finally go to jail for all his crimes!"

With that, Devan flew out of the police station, and the chief resumed his paperwork.

"Good luck with that, drama queen," he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!" bellowed Devan from far away.

What the police didn't realize was Hypno-Joe's intrigue at the new development to Devoted Devan's situation. He turns to the window and to process what he just heard.

"So…" he said, "Devoted Devan and Gru are neighbors now."

He couldn't believe his ears. His nemesis and his idol were now living on the same street. Considering Devan's unsuccessful attempts to best Gru, Hypno-Joe had no doubts that Gru was making Devan's life miserable. He would enjoy that. In fact, he was enjoying it already, which was shown evident by the evil grin on his face.

"What an unlucky superhero," he darkly chuckled, "stuck living with the greatest villain of all time. Oh, I can't wait see what diabolical schemes he's concocting right now."

You may have detected a hint that Hypno-Joe was confident he wouldn't remain incarcerated for long. That's because he was. After all, he had escaped from prison many times before. Why wouldn't he do it again?

"Fortunately," he continued as he got out his pocket watch to check the time, "I don't have to wait long at all. Soon, it will be time to put my escape plan into action."

Hypno-Joe could see the clock ticking to freedom as he waited. He was already thinking about what crimes he would commit when he was free. But the most important thing on his mind was reuniting with Gru, the master villain. Hypno-Joe knew where he lived, so he knew where to go to check on his idol. Together, they would fix the problems with the imperfect world they both lived in.


	6. Setting an Example

**Chapter 6:**

**Setting an Example**

As Alex walked closer and closer to the Gru residence, he felt his social anxieties rising by the second, not because of the spooky haunted house look, but because of yesterday's incident. Despite this, he knew he had to overcome these anxieties. He still wanted to get to know his new neighbors. He asked his mother if it was okay, and she agreed, as long as he was back by lunchtime.

Finally, the brave teenager was at the front door of the Gru house and rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to answer. As he waited, he hoped that someone would be Margo, for obvious reasons. Sure enough, after a few seconds of waiting, out came the girl of his dreams.

"Oh, hi, Alex," she greeted.

"Hi, Margo," Alex shyly greeted back. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," agreed Margo. "Come on in."

Overwhelmed by this goddess of love inviting him in, Alex stepped into the house and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Look," he said as they both walked to the living room, "I want to apologize for my dad. I know he acted…"

"Out of line?" Margo finished for him. "Yes, he did."

Margo sounded very much like a stern parent when she said that. A trait Alex didn't know he liked in women around his age.

As Margo and Alex reached the living room couch, Margo was the first to sit on it, and left room for Alex, making inviting gestures by tapping the room left for him.

The warmness Alex felt by this invite spoke for itself.

"It's just that he's been lied to by a lot of villains he fought," continued Alex, "and I think he just has problems trusting people."

"I know how that feels," admitted Margo, recalling her own difficulties trusting Gru when she was first adopted by him.

There was a brief moment of pause as the two kids continued to sit on the crocodile-shaped couch. Despite the circumstances, Alex felt comfortable sitting next to this girl. It made him feel good inside. He could feel his social anxieties disappearing whenever he was with her. After the short silence, Margo broke the ice.

"Do _you _believe my dad's given up villainy?" she asked.

Alex gave an innocent shrug. This question was a no-brainer for him.

"Hey," he answered, "if the Grinch can change, anyone can."

This got a laugh out of Margo. He was obviously calling back to their bonding over Dr. Seuss earlier, and she got the hint.

"Good point," she laughed.

While Alex was glad that he got a laugh out of Margo, he thought he should give her a straighter answer.

"For real, though," he said with more seriousness in his voice, "yes, I do believe his change is legitimate. I mean, no one who would be willing to adopt a pretty girl…err, a _nice_ girl like you can be bad, right?"

Well, that wasn't quite as serious as he was aiming for. Alex was quite embarrassed by letting that detail slip, and he could tell from the awkward smile Margo showed that she was too. Thankfully, it didn't seem to affect their chemistry in any major way as Margo let Alex continue.

"And…" he said, "I wish my dad would give your dad the benefit of the doubt."

Margo looked down and nodded her head.

"Yeah," she said, "me too."

Alex could tell that this conversation was making Margo unhappy, so he decided to cheer her up a little by changing the subject.

"Anyway…" he said, "it's gotta be sweet, having secret agents for your parents."

It seemed to work, as Margo was now showing more enthusiasm in their conversation.

"Oh yeah, it is," she replied. "They're both highly-trained, so you wouldn't want to mess with them."

"I can imagine," Alex chuckled, glad he got her to smile again.

"They even saved our lives on a few occasions," explained Margo. "One time, when we were all kidnapped by a villain named Vector, I was thrown off his escape pod and almost fell to my death."

"Oh my gosh," Alex said in horror with his hand over his mouth.

"I know," agreed Margo, "it was scary. I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. I still have nightmares about that incident sometimes. I don't even think I would be sitting here talking to you right now if my dad didn't catch me in time."

"Well," said Alex, feeling the urge to cheer Margo up again, "if there was never a time before I was convinced that he's a good father, this is it."

"Thanks, Alex," said Margo with a smile.

Once again, it worked.

Another moment of pause occurred as the two kids continued to sit on the couch. Margo once again was the one to break the silence by asking Alex something out of curiosity.

"Do you ever think about becoming a superhero?" she asked.

"Not really," replied Alex. "All I want to do is write serenades. I wanna be a singer."

"Your dad doesn't pressure you to follow in his footsteps, does he?" asked Margo.

"Nah, he supports my dream," replied Alex.

"I'm just glad my dream is not to be a supervillain like my dad was," said Margo.

"Yeah, that…that wouldn't be all that great," chuckled Alex awkwardly. "So, where _is_ your dad?"

"In the lab," replied Margo. "Going through some old inventions."

* * *

True to Margo's words, Gru was in his underground lab going over old inventions he used in his villain days, accompanied by his old—_very_ old—friend and partner-in-crime Dr. Nefario, having recently been unfrozen from carbonite. The objective here was to pack away and recycle all inventions that could be harmful to minors (i.e. his daughters), or otherwise too dangerous to be used for AVL missions.

Considering that Dr. Nefario, a man whose penchant for villainy remained even after Gru's repentance, was the creator of most if not all of these inventions, you would think that it would be difficult to separate the good from the bad. But the pair already made decent progress, having plenty of cardboard boxes scattered across the lab. The ones that were ready to go to the junkyard were already sealed up, and the ones that weren't were open. There was currently a half-in-half balance of which ones were ready and which ones weren't.

Gru was quite happy to be working with Dr. Nefario after what felt like forever. He remembered how happy his family was to see Nefario okay the day he was unfrozen. And he was confident that day would come. After all, if Han Solo could come out of that situation okay, so could Nefario.

"I must say, it's great to be unfrozen from carbonite," Dr. Nefario announced as they continued their recycling mission.

Given that sentence's wording, you would be forgiven for thinking that Nefario knew he was frozen in carbonite all this time. Thankfully, unlike Han Solo, Nefario remembered nothing of his time frozen, only the moment before the fact, which made Gru _very_ relieved. The last thing the old coot needed was horrible flashbacks of…well, you've already heard enough.

With a long way to go before they have all the "bad" gadgets— "badgets", if you will—packed up, the ex-villain and his old assistant began talking about things to pass the time…including the latest developments with their new neighbors.

"So, this Devoted Devan fellow," said Dr. Nefario, "he's quite a character, isn't he?

"Tell me about it," said Gru. "He still thinks I'm a villain and attacked me."

"And yet, you still want to be friends with him?" asked Nefario, clearly flabbergasted, if not outright incredulous.

"Well, yeah," replied Gru. "He was Lucy's best friend, and she wants us to get along. I have to respect her wishes. That's exactly why we're getting rid of everything in this lab that remotely resembles villainy."

Despite having this conversation, Dr. Nefario wasn't exactly keen on giving up these inventions. He understood why, but dangerous or not, they were still memories of the times the world groveled before them.

"Aww," the elderly scientist said, sounding like a disappointed five-year-old. "Does that mean the poisonous plant has to go?"

Right on cue, the very same Venus flytrap they spoke of, which was right next to them, looked up at Gru and gave him the meekest smile it could make. It almost reminded Gru of the girls' pleading smiles whenever they asked something from him. Unfortunately, the plant wasn't the girls.

"Yes, it does," Gru bluntly said.

Letting out a depressed squeal, the plant lowers its head in sadness and allows Gru to place it into one of the empty boxes, and the pair resumed recycling.

"So, how _are_ you going to make peace with Devoted Devan?" asked Dr. Nefario.

"I don't know yet," replied Gru. "All I know is that all this evil stuff has to go. Otherwise, we'd be setting a bad example for the girls."

"How _are_ the girls, anyway?" asked Nefario, genuinely curious.

"They're just great," replied Gru. "Lucy and I are pushing them into doing more of the chores."

"Well," Nefario said, "if you ever have problems getting the girls to listen to you, the hypnosis screen over there is at your service."

As Nefario pointed Gru to a giant monitor on wheels that's currently off, the ex-villain was incredulous at his offer. Was this geezer seriously suggesting that he should hypnotize his own children?

"That's always an option," he said sarcastically.

Nefario could tell that Gru was being sarcastic. He's worked with him long enough to know the difference, after all.

"We're getting rid of that too, aren't we?" he asked in a tone that made it clear that he knows what the answer was.

"Indeed, we are," confirmed Gru, "once we find a big enough box."

Resuming their recycling, the old doctor took notice of an old recipe that was buried underneath one of the "badgets". He picked it up and started to read it.

"Hey, I remember this," Dr. Nefario said. "This was the recipe for a serum I made a while ago, capable of making someone fall desperately in love with you. I call it 'Love Potion #10.'"

This earned him an unimpressed look from Gru.

"You know, like 'Love Potion #9'," clarified Nefario, "but better!"

"Yeah, I got it," said Gru, "it just wasn't funny."

"Oh, come on," insisted Nefario, "it was totally funny!"

But this did nothing to deter Gru's unimpressed expression, and Nefario knew what it meant.

"Right," said the defeated doctor, "getting rid of it."

"Definitely get rid of that," insisted Gru. "If Devan sees that, he's going to think that's the only reason Lucy and I are married!"

Nefario did what Gru asked and put the recipe in another of the empty boxes.

"Personally," suggested Nefario, "if it was me, I would have just zapped him with that memory eraser and called it a day."

"You know I can't do that," said Gru, "and even if I wanted to, Devan is strong enough to resist."

Nefario was about to put the freeze ray, but Gru visibly stopped him before he could.

"No, no, we can keep that," he said. "We use that for our AVL missions."

At Gru's request, Nefario put the freeze ray back on the table where he found it.

"Oh, isn't this fun?" asked Gru in a cheerful tone.

"Oh yeah, super-fun," Nefario replied sarcastically. "Don't miss villainy at all.

"Great!" said Gru, choosing to ignore what Nefario just said. "Now, I'll be taking these boxes to the junkyard now. I'll be back for the rest. Watch the lab."

With that, Gru grabbed a couple of huge box of evil inventions-as many as he could carry at the moment-and headed to the exit to head to the junkyard. With the whole lab to himself, Nefario attended the giant computer and began working on it. What he didn't notice was Devan hiding in a corner, listening in on the "evil" duo, with an angry look on his face.

* * *

"Antonio did what?!"

Margo and Alex were still talking in the living room, and they were really getting to know each other. But one thing led to another, and the conversation led to Margo admitting her Antonio debacle, earning an outraged reaction from Alex. Neither of them could believe she fell head over heels for that jerk, only to be tossed aside like yesterday's newspaper!

"I know!" the bespectacled girl said, equally outraged. "I can't believe it either! My first crush basically cheated on me! Of course, I found out later he was the son of a supervillain, so that figures."

The mere thought that Margo had been wronged by somebody boiled Alex's blood. To know that his first love had been disrespected by her own first love was almost too much for him to bear.

"Oh, that's terrible," sympathized Alex. "Why didn't you punch the jerk in the face?"

"My dad says I shouldn't resort to violence because it's not ladylike," replied Margo, "or something like that."

"Well, bottom line is he shouldn't have done that to you!" insisted Alex. "He should have treated you better!"

"Oh Alex, you're so sweet," thanked Margo, almost blushing at Alex's protectiveness.

"No, I mean it," insisted Alex. "If you were _my_ girlfriend, I would never cheat on you or abandon you. I would do everything in my power to make our relationship work. I would make all kinds of sacrifices for you. I would rescue you from danger. I would die for you. And if you wanted me to pick you up from the airport on short notice, I would pick you up!"

Margo had to admit, she was getting spooked by the amount of seriousness in Alex's voice as he described the things he would do for her. But for some reason, she found the last detail funny, and let out a cute giggle to show it.

"You know what a hassle that is," finished Alex, clearly enjoying her laughing at his humor.

But before their conversation could go any further, they hear the sound of the lab elevator being activated, which meant Gru was coming up to the surface.

This made Margo gasp in horror. She didn't want her father to catch her with a boy in the house.

"Dad's coming!" she exclaimed. "Alex, quick! Hide behind the couch!"

"What?" asked Alex. "Why?

"Just do it!" urged Margo.

Alex obeyed and hid behind the couch out of Gru's sight. He was exiting the elevator with two huge boxes and carrying them to the front door. Margo was acting casually when Gru got near her, as if nothing ever happened.

"Hey, dad," she greeted.

"Margo," said Gru, "I'm going to make a few stops to the junkyard. You be a good girl, okay?"

Margo smiled and nodded her head, making Gru feel confident that things were in good hands. He knew he could trust his mature oldest daughter, and he knew that Lucy would be there to watch the girls. Soon, he was gone with the boxes, and with the coast clear, Alex came out of his hiding place.

"Why didn't you want Gru to see me, Margo?" asked the confused teenager.

"Because," replied Margo, "if he knows I'm talking to boys again, he'll freak!"

"Yeah, but we're not…" said Alex, before taking a second to realize. "Ohh, he's one of _those_ dads."

"Yep," confirmed Margo.

The bespectacled girl could already imagine what would have happened if Gru had saw Alex sitting next to her. She knew her father would not take it well, and that his overprotective instincts would consume him, just like what happened with Antonio.

Just then, Alex looked at his wristwatch and saw that it read 10:50.

Lunchtime.

"Well," he announced, "I think I'm gonna be heading home before my parents get worried about me."

"Okay," said Margo, "see you later."

After saying their goodbyes, Alex got out of his seat and left the house, leaving Margo alone with her thoughts. She had to admit, she enjoyed talking with that boy.

_He's kinda cute, _she thought.

Margo then tried to shake away those romantic thoughts as best as she could.

_Wait, what am I saying?! I can't let myself get attached to boys again! Not after what happened last time! He's just a neighbor, and a friend. That's all he is._

This is what Margo tried to convince herself. And yet, she was having trouble thinking about anything other than Alex.


	7. Serenades for Margo

**Chapter 7:**

**Serenades for Margo**

Gru was at the junkyard dumping his evil inventions, or "badgets", on a conveyer belt leading to a giant crusher, intending to crush the inventions into scrap. He watched as the conveyer belt move the "badgets" to underneath the crusher with satisfaction. He would be happy to finally bid farewell to the burning reminder of his misdeeds.

"Goodbye, evil inventions," said Gru. "You may have corrupted me the first time, but the time you have corrupted me was the time that you corrupted the…I mean, the time you corrupted…time is…OH, FORGET IT!"

Shaking off his frustration that he couldn't come up with something clever to say, Gru watched as the crusher worked its magic on the "badgets". In no time, they were flat as a pancake, good for nothing but scrap. Gru was glad he went this far, but he still had a long way to go.

As he headed to the exit to get the rest of the "badgets", he finds a familiar face waiting for him, but not particularly happy to see him.

"Oh, hey, Devan," greeted Gru, in a tone that makes it clear that this conversation wasn't going to be pleasant.

"_Devoted_ Devan to you!" bellowed the superhero.

Yep.

"I'm onto you, Gru!" accused Devan. "Did you really think you could cover up your villainy so easily? Well, I just so happened to stumble across…THIS!"

Devan held something familiar in front of Gru's face. The AVL agent couldn't believe what he saw.

"The recipe for Love Potion #10!" clarified Devan.

"Where did you get that?!" asked a shocked Gru. "Were you in my lab?!"

"Oh, I sure was!" confirmed Devan. "And I have reason to believe that you used Love Potion #10 on my best friend!"

"I did NOT!" insisted an increasingly more frustrated Gru. "In fact, I meant to get rid of that!"

"Yes," scoffed Devan, "to cover your tracks!

"Look," argued Gru, "I didn't even come up with that! Dr. Nefario did!"

"Oh sure," scoffed Devan, "blame everyone but yourself. That's just like you, Gru!"

Gru felt the urge to cover his mouth. He didn't mean to throw Dr. Nefario under the bus like that. Was villainy truly inescapable no matter how much he tried to hide it?

"Why can't you just let go of our past battles and move on with your life?!" asked an aggravated Gru.

"Because, Gru," said Devan overdramatically, "you still committed some very heinous crimes, and yet you escaped karma's warm embrace! But karma feels quite lonely. She would appreciate some company."

"Oh, jeez…" sighed Gru, unable to believe he had to go through not only the super's accusations, but his hamminess too.

"And when I find the magic that restores my best friend to her wonderful sweet self again," continued Devan, "she will help me take you down, and the girls will be taken away from you!

Gru let out a sharp gasp at this.

"No," said Gru, his parental instincts kicking in, "you wouldn't dare!"

"Oh, I would," said Devan, "before you get any funny ideas about abusing them. So, watch your back, Gru! Wherever you go, I will follow!"

With that, Devan flew out of the junkyard, and Gru was once again left sulking after Devan's disappearance. It seemed like there was no way he could keep his past buried with a superhero soaring around for evidence. And after straight-up threatening to have his children taking away, he knew it would be harder than ever to patch things up with the guy.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," said Gru to himself.

Gru was soon distracted from his miserable thoughts when he turns to see a peculiar-looking beetle car in the junkyard.

"Oh look, a Love Bug."

* * *

Devan has returned to his house in his usual dramatic entrance to rejoin with his wife and son. They seemed _very_ happy about something, which the super didn't notice until after he made his usual dramatic entrance speech.

"I have returned, family!" he announced.

"And just in time, too," said an excited Susan, "because Alex has something that he wants to tell you!"

The parents' attention then turned to Alex, who seemed excited and nervous at the same time to tell his father what he wanted to tell him.

"Go ahead, sweetie!" encouraged Susan.

After about two seconds of prepping himself, Alex finally let it out.

"Mom…Dad…" he said, "I'm in love with Margo."

This revelation earned very loud squealing and laughing from his mother and an excited look from his father. They both were treating this like the boy just won the lottery, which made him feel rather flustered.

"Oh, how wonderful!" congratulated Devan.

"Come on, guys," said an embarrassed Alex, "I don't want to make a big deal out of this."

"Just that you should _say_ that means we should make a big deal out of it!" insisted Susan.

"And make a big deal out of it we shall!" declared Devan.

"I just don't know how to tell her how I feel," admitted Alex.

"Well," suggested Devan, "last time _I_ checked, any woman you save from danger is sure to be yours. That's how I met your mother, after all."

"Actually," suggested Susan. I have a better idea."

* * *

Evening came to the neighborhood as Alex walked in front of Gru's house with his guitar in hand. This was it. He was going to tell the girl of his dreams how he felt, and what better way to do that than through song? After all, he had received compliments on his original works from both of his parents.

He started by tuning his guitar as means for preparation. He wanted perfection for his serenade for Margo, and nothing less. As he was closer and closer to being ready for singing, Alex felt like the dreamy prince charming who would profess his feelings for the fair maiden above the tallest tower she was held prisoner at. And Gru's house looked like a supervillain lair, so it wasn't a stretch.

Finally, after the tuning process, Alex was ready to sing.

"Okay, here goes," Alex said to himself.

Wasting no more time, Alex began strumming on his guitar and performing his song.

Margo. Oh, Margo.

My kindred spirit next door.

Margo. Sweet Margo.

I couldn't ask for more.

Inside the house in the girls' bedroom,Margo was texting her friend Avery on her phone, talking about the same things they talk about all the time. Suddenly, she heard music, and it seemed to be coming from the front yard.

"Huh?" said a curious Margo.

Margo walked up to the window and saw Alex playing on his guitar and singing.

At first, I hated to move.

To leave my friends behind.

But when I got to know you,

It gave me peace of mind.

"Oh no," said Margo to herself.

She couldn't believe this was happening. Alex has fallen in love with her, and was now using his music to tell her how he felt. It was embarrassing!

Now I know I belong here.

Now I know I'm home.

No longer am I trapped

In depression's catacombs.

The bespectacled girl quickly turned away from the window and buried her face in her hands. He was serious about this!

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no," she said to herself.

Thankyou for your kindness.

Thank you for easing my fears.

For opening my eyes,

And opening my ears.

Suddenly, Margo found herself taking her hands out of her face to look at Alex again. It seemed that the boy's lyrics were sinking in. Corny as they were, they seemed to come from the heart.

Thank you for saving me

From anxiety's painful grip.

You understand me so well.

You're why I never quit.

Margo continued to listen to Alex's song, and smiled as she continued to let his words sink in. He sure knew how to make a girl feel like she was a good influence.

Our fathers are fighting.

One's bad, one's badder.

But we're not fighting.

And that makes me…gladder.

This lyric got a chuckle out of Margo. Once again, his lyrics were corny, but heartfelt.

I wish I could have said then,

How I felt about you.

You are a true princess.

A sweetheart through and through.

Margo blushed at this sweet compliment. She no longer felt embarrassed. She was flattered. Even honored.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for easing the pain.

Without you, my life

Would not have been the same.

It was at this point that Alex sees Margo getting into the song, making him ecstatic as he got to the big finish.

Thank you for saving me

From anxiety's painful grip.

You understand me so well.

You're why I never quit.

Finally, Alex finished his song, and took a bow for Margo, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. Alex clearly poured blood, sweat, and tears into this song he wrote for her. It almost made her cry. In fact, it did.

As Margo turned away from the window and cried, she thought about what this boy said in his song. He was having trouble adjusting to this big move, and his bonding with her made it easier for him. If this beautiful song was how he showed his gratitude…

…then maybe she should give boys another chance.


	8. An Offer Gru Can't Refuse

**This is probably the longest I've had to take to update with a new chapter, and I apologize for that. This is because of some new scenes I've been considering adding to replace old ones that I wondered if I should include or not. I make no promises that this is the only time this will happen. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

**An Offer Gru Can't Refuse**

The next morning, Alex was talking to his father about his performance last evening in the dining room, which wasn't that far from the front door. The conversation so far had been nothing but the worried teenager wondering if he did anything wrong, and the superdad reassuring him that he did fine. And at one point while this was happening, the doorbell rings.

"I got it," announced Susan as she rushed to the door.

"I just can't stop thinking that maybe I came off as too strong," said Alex, "or too weird. I hope I didn't come across as a creep."

"Son," reassured Devan, "you should not be doubting yourself. The song you wrote for that girl came from the heart."

"Well, next time I see Margo," vowed Alex, "I'm gonna say to her face how much I care about her."

"Well, you're in luck," said Susan in a singsong voice. "She's at the door!"

This got Alex to immediately turn to the front door.

"Margo?" Alex said hopefully.

Sure enough, there was the goddess of love herself. Alex let out a loud excited gasp at the sight of her…but then he immediately calms himself down for the sake of appearing mature in front of her.

"Hey, Margo," said Alex, acting as natural as he can.

The flattered girl couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Alex trying to act natural after just gasping excitedly like he just found out he won the lottery, and walks closer to him where he sat.

"You know," she said, "I really like that song you made for me last night. And I was wondering if maybe…you'd like to watch a movie with me?"

Alex could not believe what he was hearing. This lovely lady whom he had bonded with and wrote a serenade for was now inviting him to a movie. To say he was merry as a schoolgirl would be an understatement, but he wanted to once again appear as normal as he could for her.

"Of course I would," replied Alex.

"Well, how about that, son?" congratulated Devan in his usual hammy way. "It is the greatest honor that could ever be bestowed upon you."

"And I will personally drive you two there," said Susan warmly.

"This is truly a wondrous sight!" announced Devan overdramatically. "Your love can break the hold that that evildoer has on her!"

This earned a nervous chuckle from the embarrassed teenager. It was clear that he still thought Gru was evil and was "controlling" his family in some way.

"Uh…heh, sure, dad," was all Alex could say to this.

"Well, let's get ready!" said Susan as she clapped her hands. "Alex, brush your teeth and bring some money!"

Alex immediately obeyed and ran up the stairs as Margo and Susan waited for him.

* * *

After a few minutes of preparation, Margo and Alex were ready for their first date at the movie theater. They were sitting in the back seat of Susan's SUV as she was preparing to drive.

"Now, remember," whispered Margo, "we can't tell my dad about this."

"I won't say a word," Alex whispered back.

The conversation was too quiet for Susan to hear as she had the car ready to go.

"Alright!" she said eagerly. "Next stop: the movie theater!"

And with that, Susan began her drive to their destination.

* * *

While Lucy was having mother-daughter bonding time with Edith and Agnes, Gru was reading the newspaper. As he read about another of Devoted Devan's heroic efforts, the AVL agent wondered how he was going to make things right with the beloved superhero. After all, his wife really wanted them to get along, and Gru wanted nothing more than to honor her wishes. The problem, however, was their past battles appearing to stain any chance of a healthy relationship.

Gru also couldn't believe Devan accused him of abusing his children and using a love serum on Lucy, when both parties stayed with him of their own volition. Not to mention how Devan threatened to take his children away and probably put them in a foster home in a misguided attempt to "save" them. Considering the kids were the driving force to Gru's happy life, you have to ask where the line is. Will Gru ever be able to fulfill his promise to Lucy and become friends with Devoted Devan? And there was still the rest of the "badgets" to take care of.

Just as Gru was drowning in his depressing thoughts, he heard a knock on the door. He walked up to the door and opened it, just knowing it had to be Devan confronting him for more "villainous behavior".

"Look, Devan," Gru said, "I—"

But then he let out a shocked gasp…no, a _horrified_ gasp. It was not Devoted Devan. It was someone he was not looking forward to seeing. It was…

Hypno-Joe!

That's not possible! He was supposed to be incarcerated! The news report Gru just read said so! He must have broken out!

As the escaped criminal stood there with a cane, as though he was a used car salesman, the AVL agent could feel his skin crawl at his presence. What was he doing here, and what did he want with him? Oh, good lord…was he about to persuade Gru back into villainy?

"Hello, Gru," he said. "Yes, it is I, Hypno-Joe, the upcoming star in villainy!"

Gru couldn't say hello back. He was too petrified with shock and fear. After all, this was an escaped criminal mastermind with hypnotic powers that was talking to him! How can you say hello to someone like that when you know how dangerous they are?

"Surprised to see me again?" he asked, seeming to misinterpret Gru's shock. "That's okay, I understand. I mean, it has been a long time. Forever, practically."

"Longer than…forever," was all Gru could say in his petrified state.

"I hear you and that foolish superhero Devoted Devan are neighbors now," said Hypno-Joe. "I'm so sorry to hear about that. Hopefully he hasn't given you as many problems as he gave me."

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Gru, playing along with Hypno-Joe's pleasant interactions with him without thinking. "I won just about every battle against that jerk."

This earned a nasty chuckle from Hypno-Joe that made the ex-villain feel even sicker.

"That's good to hear," chuckled Hypno-Joe darkly. "Now, may I come in?"

"Oh, sure," said Gru, again without thinking, "come on in."

As the intruder stepped into the house, Gru was secretly cursing himself for letting this monster into the house. He had the power to get into the mind of anyone with a weak enough will. Because of Gru, everyone without proper mental protection was in jeopardy—including the girls.

He felt like such a horrible father. He should have arrested the creep then and there, but how can one think clearly in the presence of an infamous supervillain? Plus, he had been known to carry a gun with him. Not a silly device like Vector's piranha or squid launchers, but a _real _gun with _real _bullets. Gru didn't want to take that risk, although a part of him wished he had.

Gru was so caught up in these horrifying thoughts, and Hypno-Joe is stoked to finally meet his idol in villainy again. Because of this, neither of them noticed Devoted Devan spying on them from his house. As usual, he was suspecting villainous behavior, though in this case, he was half-correct.

* * *

"I imagine you're wondering how I managed to escape from prison," said Hypno-Joe as soon as he and his idol sat down on the living room couch. "Well, it wasn't easy."

This warranted a flat-out confused look from Gru. Not easy? With Hypno-Joe's track record? This time, Hypno-Joe seemed to pay attention to Gru's reaction and once again laughs darkly, as if he were trolling Gru.

"Oh, you got me," chuckled Hypno-Joe-yep. "It was _very_ easy. I hypnotized the warden into forgetting all of my crimes, and he defended me in court."

"But won't the guards know what you did?" asked Gru.

"He's the warden, silly," chuckled Hypno-Joe. "They _have_ to take his word for it. But completely legitimate laws aside, that's enough about me. Let's talk about…you."

"Me?" asked Gru, growing more unnerved by the second.

"Yes, you," confirmed Hypno-Joe. "The master villain. The scourge of humanity. The man who stole the moon. That must have been a difficult heist. Not that I ever doubted you could pull it off. I can't even imagine how much ransom money you got from it."

Although Gru tried his best not to show it, he was _not_ appreciating this villain's praises of him. All of the things he stole, destruction he caused, and people he hurt were _nothing_ to be proud of. Hypno-Joe got off the living room couch and walked closer to the window to continue his praises in typical supervillain fashion.

"Rumor has it that you even brainwashed one of the finest agents of the Anti-Villain League into marrying you," continued Hypno-Joe, "even taking a job there as the perfect cover."

As luck would have it, there Lucy was, walking to the living room to see Gru. Her entrance has gone unnoticed through Hypno-Joe's praises of his idol whilst staring out the window.

Her reaction is mostly what you would expect—total horror to see her honey bear and a hypnotizing supervillain in the same room. She knew said supervillain should have been locked up, and assumed the worst. Either Hypno-Joe was holding Gru hostage, or he somehow got into her hubby's head.

As soon as Gru saw Lucy standing there petrified, his protective instincts arose. He needed to shoo her away before Hypno-Joe saw her. He made waving gestures with his hands—nonverbal cues to get away. He didn't want her to get involved in this too. Lucy seemed hesitant to not be able to kick Hypno-Joe's butt, but she nodded her head and quietly tiptoed out of sight.

"Not a day goes by where I don't think about all the wonderfully horrid things you've done," continued Hypno-Joe as he turned to his idol, with Lucy no longer there.

"Uh…thank you," said Gru, trying to sound as sincere as he could.

"And that's why I need your help," said Hypno-Joe as he sat next to Gru again. "You see, all that time in prison has made me want to be better—better at villainy, of course. I came up with the perfect plan to put everyone under my control. The world would be so much better off with me as their supreme overlord. There's only one problem, though—the TV station I plan to break into has rather tight security. I had often tried to break in but had never succeeded. Of course, all I was missing back then was your mad heist skills. With your help, Gru, the world will be mine. Oh, what's that? You want the world to be _ours_? I can make that happen too. So, what do you say, big guy? Will you help me create the perfect world? For old times' sake?"

Gru is left completely speechless at Hypno Joe's proposition. Just as he feared, this lunatic was all but stating that he should continue his miserable life of crime, and has come to his home with a plan to take over the world with him. Yes, he'd been through this before, but he still couldn't believe this was happening.

This reminded him of the time El Macho tried to persuade him to rule the world together with him, only for El Macho to want him dead when he found out about his affiliation with the AVL.

Then there was the time his twin brother Dru tried to persuade him back to villainy when he and Lucy were temporarily fired from the AVL. He pretended to go along with it to fool Dru and use him to get his job back. And while Dru didn't try to _kill_ his own brother after discovering the ruse, he still was not at all happy with him. It wasn't until the girls were kidnapped by Balthazar Bratt that they set their differences aside.

And here he was again, now being persuaded by Hypno-Joe help him create "the perfect world". Obviously, there was no way Gru was going to help him, but he was afraid of what he would do to him or his family if he refused. He needed to play it smart and make nice with Hypno-Joe for the time being. He trusted Gru, so perhaps he could arrest the jerk when he least suspected it. He was thankful Hypno-Joe had at least given him time to think about all of this. After some heavy contemplation, Gru had to ask Hypno-Joe one question.

"People are…going to get hurt, aren't they?" he asked.

"No, of course not," insisted Hypno-Joe. "My idea of a perfect world is one where everyone loves each other. But mostly me. Trust me, Gru, hurting people is the last thing on my mind. The pain of my parents disowning me is only mine to endure."

This answer gave Gru peace of mind. Well, somewhat. If nobody is going to hurt, that made Gru feel slightly more comfortable with helping Hypno-Joe before things went too far. Feeling slightly assured, Gru gave Hypno Joe a smile.

"Then yes, Hypno Joe," he said, "I _will_ help you make the perfect world!"

"Excellent!" exclaimed Hypno-Joe. "I knew I could count on you."

But before the two could carry anything out, they heard the front door bursting open and being flown off its hinges, alarming the two into jumping out of their chairs to face the intruder.

There stood none other than Devoted Devan, making yet another dramatic entrance.

"You're not taking over the world, Hypno Joe and Gru!" he declared hammily. "Not if Devoted Devan can help it!

Gru wanted so desperately to assure Devan that he was not affiliated with Hypno-Joe in any way, but he knew he couldn't because a) It would spoil his ruse, and b) Devan wouldn't believe him anyway. So, as much as he hated it, he had to pretend to be evil.

"Devoted Devan," he said in the most fake-to-himself-but-real-to-Hypno-Joe evil voice he could muster, "we meet again."

"I heard everything, Gru!" yelled Devan. "You're in cahoots with Hypno Joe!"

"You bet your cape he is," laughed Hypno-Joe. "He just agreed to help me make the perfect world! And there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

Gru couldn't help but give Devan a genuinely guilty look. He still wanted to make peace with the super, and Hypno-Joe was _really_ not making it easier for him right now.

"I knew you were still evil!" yelled Devan. "First Love Potion #10, and now this!"

"So, it's true," said an intrigued Hypno-Joe to Gru. "You _did_ force Lucy to marry you!"

Great…now he had to act like Devan was right about his evil ways just to placate Hypno-Joe.

"Yes!" he said, once again appearing insincerely villainous. "Yes, I did! His best friend is mine!"

This seemed to make Devan angrier by the second, and it was killing Gru inside.

"You won't get away with this, evildoers!" vowed the enraged super. "I swear it!"

"Why are we still talking to you?" taunted Hypno-Joe. "We should be discussing how we will make the perfect world."

"Just what I was thinking, Hypno Joe," said Gru, sounding evil for (hopefully) the last time.

He was about to press a button on the chair, but not before whispering one last thing to his superhero neighbor.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Gru.

With that, Gru pressed the button. This activated a giant boot that swung from the ceiling at Devan, sending him flying through the doorway and across the skies. The defeated superhero won't be back to stop them from making the "perfect world" for some time, and one of the two is happier about it than the other.

"That ought to buy us some time," said Hypno-Joe smugly.

"Once again," Gru said smugly, "I win, and Devoted Devan loses!"

Gru had no idea why he felt smug by his latest victory over Devoted Devan, since it was for the wrong reasons.

* * *

Upstairs, Lucy was hiding out of Hypno-Joe's sight in a hallway corner in a panic, talking into her phone.

"This is Agent Lucy Wilde," she whispered. "Hypno-Joe escaped from prison! Yes, _that_ Hypno-Joe! I need backup! Get over here as soon as possible! And whatever you do, don't fall for any of his hypno-tricks."

"Mom, can we have a snack?" Agnes asked.

Startled, Lucy turned to see Edith and Agnes walking from their bedroom to their worried mother. This filled her with more fear, since the last thing she needed right now was to be seen by Hypno-Joe. He could turn them into his slaves, or worse.

"Girls, go to your room right now!" ordered Lucy. "There's a villain in the house!"

With a collective gasp, the girls immediately obeyed their mother and ran back into their room. They recognized the dangers of home invasion and criminal behavior, and the last thing they needed was another kidnapping.

"And don't come out until I say it's safe!" added Lucy.

By the time they were in their room, the AVL had received the request for backup. She just hoped the backup would arrive before the perpetrator hurt anybody. She also hoped Hypno-Joe never got to Margo, having not seen her since she went to talk with their new neighbors.

She hoped that justice would prevail.

* * *

After a good fifteen minutes of driving, Susan's SUV has reached its destination. She parks in the movie theater's parking lot, and Margo and Alex got off.

"Bye!" called Susan cheerfully. "You kids have fun!"

With that, Susan drove away as Margo and Alex waved back to her. With goodbyes said, Alex and Margo walked over to the ticket booth. Alex reached into his pocket and gave his money to the man at the ticket booth. They knew what movie they wanted to see.

"Two kids for 'The Adventures of Valiant Virgil", sir,' he said.


	9. Movies

**Chapter 9:**

**Movies**

While Edith and Agnes worried about the villain in the house from their room, Gru and Hypno-Joe were going over a huge map they laid out on the dining room table. They were discussing their world domination plot. Lucy, meanwhile, was watching the two's every moment from upstairs out of sight of them, like spies do. Gru didn't know how much longer he could keep up this charade, but there was no telling what Hypno-Joe could do if he broke character, so he had to keep playing along, despite how difficult it was.

"Alright, Gru," said Hypno-Joe, "how are we going to do it? How are we going to break into that TV station?"

"I think I have it all figured out," explained Gru. "You told me that the security for the station was tight, but this is a map of the underground tunnels that should lead us to the TV station."

"I don't usually like going underground," said Hypno-Joe, his neat freak habits rising once again. "It makes my clothes dirty. But I suppose it's worth it for the sake of our perfect world."

"Once we're inside," continued Gru, "I will personally freeze the guards, allowing you to send your hypnotic message to the unsuspecting public. You would even have enough time to get yourself cleaned up before you send your message."

"I love it!" complimented Hypno-Joe. "Perfect world, here I come!"

Gru could feel himself getting sicker in the stomach by the second. Although it's merely an act on his part and he wasn't _really_ letting Hypno-Joe create this "perfect world", he was cursing himself for how letting it go this far. He almost wished his wife would intervene already, but doing so while the villain thought she was under the effects of Love Potion #10 might set him off. Remember, he was known to carry a gun.

"You know, Gru," said Hypno-Joe, "all this planning for world domination is making me tired. What do you say we watch a movie?"

"Sure," replied a clearly uneasy Gru. "What do you feel like?"

With that, Hypno-Joe reached into his top hat, and got out a DVD case with a very familiar face on it.

"The _Evil Bratt_ lost episode!" said Hypno-Joe excitedly. "I brought it on the way here!"

Yes, _that_ Balthazar Bratt. Gru's last nemesis, and the AVL's most wanted villain at one point.

Now Gru was on the verge of losing it. Hypno-Joe may not have _known_ about his enmity with the failed child star, if that was even possible, but this was still the monster that not only almost had his daughters _killed_, he tried to send Hollywood into space, something that would have resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people at most, depending on how many were able to escape in time.

"You won't believe the strings I pulled to get this onto DVD," boasted Hypno-Joe. "After we watch this lost episode, what do you say we discuss what laws we should create for our perfect world?"

Gru uneasily nods his head. This was going to be a _looong_ viewing.

* * *

Susan was driving home in her SUV. She figured she had time to herself at home while her son and his date were watching their movie.

_I'm so glad Alex is dating now, _she thought in her 15-minute drive. _That boy's been shy for too long. It's time he got himself out there. I wonder how they're enjoying their movie._

* * *

Margo and Alex sat side-by-side watching _The Adventures of Valiant Virgil_, eating popcorn and drinking soda. They both had different views of what was going on during the climax. Margo was watching it skeptically while Alex was intimidated by it.

"_Vanessa…my love!" exclaimed Virgil. What has that monster done to you?"_

"_Just a little hypnosis, Valiant Virgil," boasted the evil Dr. Destro. "Your wife is mine now! She loves me, and only me! Don't you, my sweet?"_

"_I love Dr. Destro," droned Vanessa in a trancelike tone._

"_I should have known something was fishy about this divorce!" proclaimed Virgil._

"_Well, you're too late to stop us!" boasted Dr. Destro. "Now, Vanessa, destroy him!"_

"_Yes, master," droned Vanessa._

The pair continued to watch the climax as Vanessa threw punches at Virgil without showing any signs of holding back. While Alex was getting scared of the violence, Margo could only roll her eyes at it.

"That is so cliché," she said, somehow ignoring Alex's whimpers.

"_Vanessa," pleaded Virgil, "__listen to me! You don't want to do this! We have a beautiful baby girl!"_

_But Vanessa ignored her superhero husband and continued to attack._

"_Must destroy Valiant Virgil," she droned._

"_It's no use!" boasted Dr. Destro. "Soon she will be my wife, and we will rule the world as king and queen!"_

"_No…you…won't!" yelled Virgil with emphasis._

After the hero snatched the antidote, Alex looked at the screen with a hopeful look on his face, but Margo was still rolling her eyes.

_Dr. Destro gasped at the sight of his nemesis with the antidote to his control over Vanessa._

"_The antidote!" he exclaimed._

"_Yes!" cried Virgil triumphantly. "Once I give this to Vanessa, she will come out of her hypnotic trance!"_

"_No, you don't!" yelled Dr. Destro._

Alex's hope fades when Vanessa blew Valiant Virgil away from his laboratory with a huge gust of wind that came from a giant fan.

"_Have I served you well, master?" she asked trancelike._

"_You have, my dear," congratulated Dr. Destro. "He may have the antidote, but you are still mine before he got the chance to use it. Now, let us run away to a place where Valiant Virgil will never find us!"_

"_I would love nothing more, master," droned Vanessa._

"_Dr. Destro…" vowed Virgil, "I swear to you…I will find you. Even if it takes me forever, I will find you, I will cure my wife, and you will pay!"_

And with that, the movie was over, the credits began to roll, and the other moviegoers began to leave. Alex was nowhere near ready to go, though, as he suddenly burst into tears.

"Well, that was fun," Margo happily said, having enjoyed the movie despite its bleak ending.

This joy faded when she saw Alex crying his heart out over the sad ending, and the bespectacled girl was immediately concerned for her date.

"Alex, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh Margo," sniffled Alex, "that was so sad. Valiant Virgil couldn't save his wife."

Margo comforts her date by patting his shoulder as he cried.

"There's still another Valiant Virgil movie coming out next summer," reassured Margo. "He'll probably save his wife then."

"Margo," sobbed Alex, "you don't understand. That movie…reminded me of what almost happened to my mom."

"What are you talking about?" asked a confused Margo.

"There was this villain named Hypno Joe," explained Alex through his tears. "He made my mom fall in love with him. She almost divorced my dad because of him."

"Ohhh," said Margo, who now finally understood.

That movie must have been too real for the boy.

"I got so lucky, Margo," continued the crying teenager. "My dad saved her, but…I can't imagine what our family would be like if my mom actually _did_ marry Hypno Joe."

As Alex continued to cry, Margo felt empathy for her date, and hugged him, letting Alex cry on her shoulder.

"Shh-shh-shh-shh," she hushed, "it's okay…"

After Margo dried Alex's tears, they both let go and continue talking.

"I'm sorry, Margo," apologized Alex. "I'm sorry for being such a wuss. That movie just reminded me so much of—"

"Hey, mister," interrupted Margo, "you are not a wuss. It's normal to get emotional about movies you like."

"You did enjoy the movie, right?" asked Alex.

"Yeah, I did," confirmed Margo. "It was cliché, but…I like cliché."

"I just want to make sure you're having a good time, Margo," said Alex. "I really want this to work, and I really like you."

"Well," chuckled a flattered Margo. "clearly you do if you're willing to open up about your feelings to me."

After a brief pause, Margo gives Alex a quiet kiss on the lips. It seemed to make the teenager feel better about the movie's depressing movie.

"You don't have to try so hard, Alex," reassured Margo. "I like you too."

Alex was happy to hear this. The girl of his dreams had bonded with him, enjoyed his music, gave him a kiss on the lips, and now said with no uncertain terms that she liked him. The joy he felt almost made him forget about that horrible ending.

"You know," encouraged Margo, "we still have some time before your mom comes back. You wanna check out the games in this place?"

"Oh boy, do I?!" replied an excited Alex, before once again lowering his energy for his date. "I mean, if that's what _you_ want to do."

Margo once again found it amusing of Alex to be excited one minute and calm the next, and the two found themselves lovingly staring into each other's eyes. They were truly having the time of their lives in that moment.

Their happiness was briefly interrupted when they hear a Minion angrily yelling gibberish at the movie screen and tossing its empty popcorn box and soda can at it.

Not all Minions that defected to Dru had to go to AVL prison with him, and some were able to escape his latest heist attempt to see the world. And apparently, Alex was not the only one unsatisfied by the unhappy ending of the movie he was watching.

"What's he saying?" asked Alex to Margo, not understanding the Minions' native tongue.

"You DON'T want to know," groaned Margo.

* * *

As Margo and Alex were getting finished with their movie, so were Gru and Hypno-Joe as the lost episode of _Evil Bratt_ was finishing up. The episode was about Bratt and Clive hijacking a yellow submarine for a joyride, and as always, getting away with it in the end.

Aiding the villain and his robot sidekick was special guest Scarlet Overkill, whom Gru immediately recognized from many years ago. She's aged quite a bit since her attempted theft of Queen Elizabeth's crown. When they got to her scene, Hypno-Joe looked briefly sad, and Gru wondered why.

While Hypno-Joe enjoyed the villain protagonist making off with his ill-gotten gains, Gru felt like he was going insane. Not because of the outdated 80's motif, but because of all the trouble he caused his family.

As soon as the episode was over, Clive rolled up to the screen to announce something to the viewer.

"_Hi. I'm Clive the Robot. Tonight's Evil Bratt was a very special episode about hijacking. But the fact of the matter is, it's no fun and games. It's serious business. To learn more about hijacking, visit your local library. Some poor fellow probably left his tank parked there for you to hijack and blow up the library. Good night."_

And with that, the lost episode was over, and Gru was _so_ relieved to see the credits roll…before remembering that Hypno-Joe still wanted to take over the world with him. Sure enough, as soon as the villain turned off the TV and ejected the DVD from its player and put it back in its case, he wanted to get right back to the "perfect world" business.

"So," said Hypno-Joe, "what new laws do you think we should make for our perfect world?"

"Oh, I don't know," Gru replied unsurely, "maybe get someone to fix my door?

Gru directed Hypno Joe's attention to the open doorway that Devan tore the door off its hinges from earlier.

"Devoted Devan breaks a lot of things in his entrances, I've noticed," said Hypno-Joe as they walked closer to the open door. "I wish he wouldn't do that."

This gave a slight chuckle from Gru. If there was one thing they could legitimately agree with, it was this.

"Me, too," agreed Gru. "I mean, _someone's _gotta pay for the damages. Those people who think it's "cool" have been watching too many superhero movies."

This got a chuckle out of Hypno-Joe…the dark kind of chuckle that made Gru remember that this was a notorious supervillain he was talking to.

"You're funny," complimented Hypno-Joe.

At that moment, they both heard a loud terrified gasp. They quickly turn their heads and see where the gasp came from.

It was Susan.

She must have noticed that Hypno-Joe has escaped from prison and was now in their neighborhood, and you can imagine how terrified she was to see him after just escaping his clutches.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't have any time to react as Hypno-Joe immediately got out a gun and fired at Susan. It just made a direct hit on his target.

It was a tranquilizer dart.

It was at this moment that Susan knew she was in trouble. What a terrible time to have the driver's window rolled down.

"Oh no…" she said in pure terror.

The sedative was taking time to kick in, but Susan could slowly-but-surely feel her consciousness slipping away. Of course, instinctively plucking the dart away from her neck did nothing to prevent her bedtime.

Her vision was starting to get blurry, but she could see him—the villain who wanted her to be his wife. As he opened the door to the driver's seat, she could tell he was ready to catch her as soon as she lost her balance.

Sure enough, no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, she could feel herself falling into Hypno-Joe's arms. And she did, making the villain feel compelled to taunt her with a lullaby.

"Hush little Susan, don't say a word," sang Hypno-Joe, "life with Devan will be absurd."

Soon, Susan has completely fallen asleep, thanks to the tranquilizer dart. As Gru witnessed Hypno-Joe carrying Susan into his house, he was glad that wasn't a _real_ gun that was fired at her, but he also knew that this monster was going to try to make her his wife again. And Devoted Devan was still not back yet. That giant boot kicked him pretty far.

* * *

"Wasn't it nice for Susan to drop in?" asked Hypno-Joe after plopping the unconscious woman on the crocodile-shaped couch.

Susan looked very peaceful while sedated. Gru was almost thankful that she wasn't being tortured in a holding cell like a typical damsel in distress.

"What are we going to do with her?" Gru nervously asked.

"I've been thinking," pondered Hypno-Joe, "you still have that hypnosis screen, don't you?"

Oh no…he knew about the hypnosis screen.

"Yes," replied Gru uneasily.

"Then now is the perfect time to use it!" declared Hypno-Joe. "Susan will love me forever, and it will be all thanks to you!"

Gru gave Hypno-Joe a false smile and thumbs up, while secretly worriedly eyeing the unconscious Susan. Once again, this praise was making Gru feel worse about what he was about to do.

He was having just about enough of this ruse.


	10. Moment of Betrayal

**Chapter 10:**

**Moment of Betrayal**

The tranquilizer was still going through Susan's system as she slept on the metal chair that she was restrained to in Gru's underground lab. This way, she would be unable to escape when she wakes up. Obviously, Hypno-Joe put her there.

Gru hated letting this happen to poor Susan, but what else could he do? As a spy, he had to fool Hypno-Joe before the backup Lucy called earlier would arrive. By his estimate, it would take them five minutes to get here. That was plenty of time to stall Hypno-Joe with a tour of the lab. The ex-villain couldn't wait to be done with this charade.

As you may remember, he was in the middle of weeding out the "badgets" for the sake of cleaning up his act. He was worried that the emptier lab would give him away, but Hypno-Joe paid no mind. Gru and Dr. Nefario must not have made enough progress.

Speaking of Dr. Nefario, Hypno-Joe was excited to meet the inventor of the freeze ray face-to-face. And the feeling was mutual. Nefario couldn't remember the last time he met an infamous supervillain in person—though maybe that was because he was so old.

After shaking hands with the doctor and filling him in on the plan they (read: only Hypno-Joe) had for Susan, Dr. Nefario couldn't wait to break the hypnosis screen out again after leaving it unused for so long.

Gru, who already guilty for letting things go this far, was incredulous at Nefario going from fawning villainy to helping make his lab safer for the girls to fawning villainy again. It was almost like the old geezer forgot the whole reason they cleaned up the lab together. Was he getting senile?

"Wh…wha…?"

The three heard feminine groaning and realize that must be Susan waking up. The sedative must have worn off.

Gru's guilt heightened when he saw his friendly neighbor processing the situation. Her reaction went from: drowsiness from the tranquilizer, confusion as to where she was, realizing she was trapped, and finally, terror when she finds Hypno-Joe standing right in front of her.

"Ahh, you're awake," said Hypno-Joe.

"Hypno-Joe!" screamed Susan in fear.

"That's my name," the villain chuckled, clearly glad his future wife was saying his name.

"What is this?!" demanded Susan. "Where am I?!"

"You are in the laboratory of one of the greatest villains I have ever known," answered Hypno-Joe.

"That's a lie!" retorted Susan defensively. "Gru's an agent of the Anti-Villain League! He put his past behind him!"

Gru had to admit, he felt quite touched that this woman was vouching for him—which made him even worse about all of this.

"That's what he wants you to think," boasted Hypno-Joe. "It's the perfect cover. Tell her, Gru. Tell her how you hated working for the AVL."

Gru was then forced to explain to Susan his "hatred" of working at the AVL.

"Oh yeah," he said. "Uhh…what he said. The AVL was…inconvenient and…err, didn't pay as much as I would have…preferred."

Susan didn't seem convinced by Gru's description, as if she were sensing when he was lying. And why wouldn't she? She's been kidnapped by enough villains to know who was good and who was evil. If a seemingly evil person was acting not so evil, she would be the first to notice. It was clear that she was a kind woman who saw the good in people. If she had known Gru when he was a villain, then chances are she would have saw the good in him even then.

Hypno-Joe didn't seem completely convinced either, which made Gru worry that his was blown.

"Not exactly the words _I_ would have used," he said—nope, "but let's focus on our perfect world. With the perfect woman as my queen."

"No!" protested Susan. "I will never be your queen!"

"Oh, look at you," chuckled Hypno-Joe, "playing hard to get. I'll get the screen ready."

And that was the first thing he did. He quickly rushed to the hypnosis screen and wheeled it to where Susan was. The thing was heavy, so the wheeling process was rather slow. But still, he pressed on, much to his excitement…and Susan's horror.

She was so terrified by what was about to happen to her that she resorted to _begging_ for her freedom. Begging who, exactly? Anyone.

"Gru," she pleaded, "you can't let him do this! You're not a villain anymore! I know you're not! Please! Do something! Before this psycho makes me care about him!"

Gru wanted to do something so badly. But he couldn't. It was not time yet. Backup hasn't arrived. All he could do was give her a guilty look. Nefario, however, was concerned with something else.

"What's wrong with my hearing aid?!" he complained. "All this excitement, and I can't hear a thing!"

Finally, the hypnosis screen was ready. Hypno-Joe faced it at Susan's direction. All he had to do was turn it on, and she would be under. Gru could only watch as Susan desperately turned her head away from the screen and shut her eyes. She didn't want to be converted.

With a press of the button on top of the monitor, the hypnosis screen was turned on, and a mesmerizing spiral pattern displayed. Susan remained defiant as she continued to resist even before it was turned on.

_If I don't look at it, it can't hypnotize me, _thought Susan. _If I don't look at it, it can't hypnotize me!_

"Now, focus on the screen, Susan," persuaded Hypno-Joe.

"Stop!" cried Susan. "Stop!"

"Stare into the screen, Susan," soothed Hypno-Joe. "The screen is your friend."

"No!" Susan cried as she tried to resist. "I won't be yours!"

_If I don't look at it, it can't hypnotize me!_

But Hypno-Joe wasn't going to give up that easily. He pressed a button on the chair Susan was restrained, activating two metallic hands on either side to grab Susan's head and force her to face the monitor. Susan was not as strong as the metal hands, but she still kept trying to look away.

_If I don't look at it, it can't hypnotize me!_

In the losing battle to keep her free will, the hands also forcibly opened her eyes, so she would look at the screen. This woman would be his or bust. Gru cringed as Susan showed grunts of pain as she tried to shut her eyes to protect her free will.

_If I don't look at it, it can't…_

"Stare into the screen, Susan," soothed Hypno-Joe, "and let the waves of hypnosis welcome you to your new life."

_If I don't look at it…_

Already, the hypnosis screen was starting to affect her. She could herself losing herself to the spiral pattern. Gru cringed even further as he saw Susan's failing battle to resist.

_If I don't…_

"Gru…help…me…" pleaded Susan with what little free will she had left.

_If…_

That was it.

"STOP!" bellowed Gru.

The AVL agent could no longer stand Susan being robbed of her free will, and hastily banged the buttons on both the screen and on the chair, turning off the screen, deactivating the hands, and releasing Susan. Thankfully, the screen didn't do too much mental damage, as Susan was able to escape from her chair and hide behind Gru.

Hypno-Joe was shocked and confused by this…not-evil decision that his idol made, but before he could react, Gru quickly grabbed his freeze ray from a nearby table and pointed it at a confused Hypno-Joe.

"Put your hands in the air, pal!" shouted Gru.

Alarmed, Hypno Joe did what Gru said and put his hands in the air.

"What is the meaning of this?!" asked a shocked Hypno-Joe.

At long last, Gru's wait was over. Several AVL agents, his wife included, arrived at the lab armed with weapons, which they unhesitatingly aim at Hypno-Joe.

"Um, Gru," said Hypno-Joe, "I believe your wife is thinking for herself again."

"Save your breath, Hypno-Joe," growled Lucy furiously. "You're under arrest!"

As the agents put handcuffs on him, as well as searching him for any and every weapon he possessed, Hypno-Joe was hit with an unbearable truth: The AVL was _not_ a cover. Gru was an agent for real. He had ended his life of crime. Lucy married him of her own volition. And now they were sending him to AVL prison—which is said to be far more secure than a regular prison.

This evidently proved to Hypno-Joe that all of Gru's previous heists and evil schemes meant nothing to him. Truthfully speaking, that wasn't 100% incorrect. Even still, the very thought that Gru went soft made Hypno-Joe angrier than he had ever been in his life. This was all so much for the supervillain to take in.

"You…are…NOT! SERIOUS!" screamed Hypno-Joe with emphasis.

Gru was not afraid of Hypno-Joe screaming at him. Why would he be? The jerk was handcuffed and stripped of his weapons. Gru was free. He no longer had to keep up this painful villain charade.

Though, there was still the feelings of someone who looked up to him to worry about, so Gru had the decency to put his hand on Hypno-Joe's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Hypno-Joe," he apologized despondently.

…or at least you would_ think_ his feelings should be taken into consideration. Instead, Gru takes his hand away from Hypno-Joe's shoulders gives him a mischievous grin. We mustn't forget that this was a dangerous criminal with no remorse for his actions, after all.

"Wait…no, I'm not!" boasted Gru tauntingly.

Hypno-Joe did not like being trolled like that and with a furious shriek attempted to charge at Gru. He didn't get very far, though, due to his handcuffs and Gru deliberately getting out of his way to dance tauntingly, but kept trying to attack him anyway.

"YOU TRAITOR!" shrieked Hypno-Joe. "YOU TURNED YOUR BACK ON EVERYTHING I BELIEVED IN! I HAVEN'T FELT THIS BETRAYED SINCE MY PARENTS DISOWNED ME!"

Again, Gru did not feel intimidated by this in the slightest. He just kept taunting Hypno-Joe further. It felt so good to taunt the villain who put him through so much. He wished he could have seen the incarcerated villain's misery for a little longer, but he allowed the other AVL agents to escort Hypno-Joe to jail while Lucy remained with her husband and Susan.

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" shrieked Hypno-Joe. "NO PRISON CAN KEEP ME! I WILL MAKE MY PERFECT WORLD WITH OR WITHOUT YOU!"

And with that, Hypno-Joe was gone, hopefully for good, his cries of vengeance drowned out the farther everyone got from the lab.

Once that miserable experience was over, the mocking side of Gru was gone and replaced with his more serious side as he and his wife check up on Susan, who had suffered the most from all of this.

"Are you okay, Susan?" asked Gru sincerely.

"I am now," replied Susan in the sweetest voice you ever heard.

Grateful to be free, Susan gave Gru the biggest, warmest hug she could muster, a hug that Gru returned. It felt good for the AVL agent to know that there was at least one Preston who saw him for the good man he was.

"I knew you weren't a villain," soothed Susan.

"Whoa there, young lady," laughed Lucy playfully, "don't go stealing my husband."

"Speak of the devil!" came a booming, overdramatic voice.

Gru and Susan stopped hugging and turned around at the sight of something shocking. It was Devoted Devan standing at the doorway with a video camera. Gru, Lucy, Susan, and Dr. Nefario were all equally shocked, and let out a gasp to show it.

No guesses as to who that voice belonged to.

"Devoted Devan!" said Gru, surprised, "you're back!"

"This isn't what it looks like," insisted Lucy as rationally as she could.

But, as usual, Devan wouldn't listen.

"Fiend!" he bellowed. "Unfaithful! Not only have you brainwashed my best friend, but my wife as well! Was one wife not enough for you?!"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" groaned Lucy.

"Back to the villain accusations we go…" said Gru, but he said it to himself.

"Devvy," pleaded Susan, "listen to me! I can explain!"

"Speak not, my wife," interrupted the stubborn super, "for I know that your mind has been warped by the very hypnosis screen in this room!"

"Yeah, about that…" Gru tried to explain, despite the futility of the situation.

"How long did it take you to make this horrible device, Dr. Nefario?" Devan angrily asked. "A month? A year?"

Nefario was…unusually enthusiastic to answer the question.

"Oh, longer than that," he replied, "but it was a labor of love. I've never had so much fun building—"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Gru, Lucy, and Susan simultaneously.

He was NOT helping.

"Well, it matters not," declared Devan, "because I have the evidence on my camera!"

Sure enough, the camera showed footage of Susan and Gru hugging. Since we all know that a hug CLEARLY indicates a romantic relationship.

"Gee," said Gru sarcastically, "what happened to 'thank you for saving my wife from Hypno-Joe'?"

"Yes," said Devan, "you put Hypno-Joe in jail so that you can be the only villain in the world! I've seen it all! One more piece of evidence, and I will have all I need to finally send you to prison! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to search the world for the magic that will cure my wife_ and_ my best friend from your mind manipulation!"

With his piece said, Devan went into the elevator that leads him out of the lab, leaving Gru, Lucy, and Susan dazed and confused.

"What am I gonna do with him?" asked Susan to herself.

"Hey, you tried, girlfriend," comforted Lucy.

Everyone's attention then turns to Dr. Nefario, who was met with angry glares from everyone in the room right now.

"You weren't much help," said Gru coldly.

"What?" asked Dr. Nefario.

A perfect time for him to have problems with his hearing aid, no?

All of a sudden, Susan's wristwatch begins beeping, making her gasp in realization.

"I still have time!" she cried.

"Time for what?" asked an intrigued Gru.

"I'm supposed to pick up my son at the theater by 3:30," explained Susan. "He's on a date with your oldest daughter!"

This revelation was met with different reactions from both parents: outrage from one, and joy from another.

"WHAT?!" shrieked Gru.

"Awww…" cooed Lucy.

"I know," agreed Susan, paying more attention to Lucy's reaction and misinterpreting Gru's. "Sly dog, isn't he? Well, bye! Thanks for taking care of Hypno-Joe for me!"

Quickly, Susan went into the elevator that leaves the lab, leaving Gru and Lucy alone, while Nefario resumed work in the lab.

Gru couldn't believe this was happening. His oldest daughter has found love! For him, this was _much_ worse than his situation with Devoted Devan and Hypno-Joe! This wasn't real!

"Margo has a boyfriend again?!" shrieked an outraged Gru.

"Well, why not?" asked an understanding Lucy.

"Why not?!" argued Gru. "Because he could hurt her like Antonio did!"

"Gru," said Lucy gently, "just because Margo had a bad experience or two doesn't mean she should miss out on her teenage years."

"Of course it does!" argued Gru. "She's not even a teenager yet!"

"She will be later this month," reminded Lucy, causing Gru to growl with defeat. "Gru, you're being overprotective. You can't stop Margo from growing up."

Gru silently looked down at the floor in defeat. He hated losing arguments with this woman. Or maybe, deep down, he knew she was right.

"I'm gonna go tell Edith and Agnes it's safe to come out of their room," said Lucy. "Promise me you won't interfere with Margo's date."

This got her husband to sigh reluctantly.

"Fine," he said, "I promise."

"Promise what?" said Lucy, wanting her honey bear to be more specific.

"I promise I won't interfere with Margo's date, okay?" agreed Gru reluctantly.

Lucy went into the elevator and left the lab, leaving Nefario with his lab work, and Gru with his thoughts.

The ex-villain felt bad about not becoming friends with Devoted Devan like his wife wanted him to. And unfortunately, he was about to break another promise to her.

One of the inventions that Gru decided to keep in his recycling business was the Spy Fly. As its name suggests, it was a microscopic cyborg fly with a built-in camera, capable of spying on anything he wanted to. And now was the perfect time to break it out and use it. Which he was able to do from the table he was currently at.

"Okay, Spy Fly," whispered Gru, "go follow Susan."

At Gru's command, the Spy Fly flew out of the lab to follow Susan.


	11. Caught in the Act

**Chapter 11:**

**Caught in the Act**

With only three minutes to go before Susan arrived to pick up the happy couple, Alex and Margo decided to check out the games they had at the movie theater. Their last stop was the claw machine. Margo hadn't heard very nice stories about the claw's controls, but she couldn't resist the challenge as the took the helm.

Currently, the focused preteen had her eyes on the prize. All the prizes looked interesting and cute, but the Captain Snowball plush was what got her attention. Alex was nearby, cheering her on in his own special way: with an announcer impression.

"She takes the helm," he whispered dramatically. "The audience holds their breath, as Margo Gru…is America's last hope…to take home the gold."

The claw managed to grab the plush, making the couple more excited. But her mission was only half-complete. Now Margo had to drop it into the chute, which was said to be the hardest part.

"Oh! Oh! Did you see that?" whispered Alex, now imitating two spectators. "I sure did. That was truly something. Here comes the moment of truth."

All of Margo's focused attention paid off as she successfully dropped the prize into the chute, earning her prize.

"Yay, Margo!" cheered Alex.

After giggling victoriously, the triumphant preteen and her date each grab the Snowball plush to admire it.

"Aw, he's so cute," said Margo.

"I know," agreed Alex.

Just then, right on cue, Margo saw Susan's SUV from her angle driving up to the theater.

"Look," she said, grabbing her date's attention, "there's your mom!"

"Right on time!" said Alex.

The couple rushed out of the movie theater to get into her car, once again sitting in the back as Susan was driving them back. She was still decompressing after everything that happened to her today, and she was amazed she was on time.

"So, how was your date?" she asked, trying to sound as happy as she could.

"Oh, it was just fantastic," replied Alex. "I had a really great time with her."

"He bawled like a baby at the movie," said Margo quietly and teasingly.

"HEY!" screamed Alex while laughing at the same time.

Susan gave a small laugh at this. She really needed some happiness in her life right now.

"Well, I'm proud of you, Alex," congratulated Susan. "_You_ know how to treat your lady."

Susan was subtly expressing her disappointment in her husband for not seeing the truth about Gru right in front of him.

"Well, I try," the shy teenager thanked, not getting the hint.

Alex and Margo enjoyed the ride home as they held hands and gazed into each other's eyes. They enjoyed their company so much that they didn't notice the fly buzzing around their car. Nor did they notice it finding the closest flat surface it could find, and taking a good look at the happy couple.

The Spy Fly was working its magic.

* * *

Gru and Dr. Nefario got together and watched the footage the Spy Fly provided of Margo and Alex's date, and the audio the footage provided was crystal clear.

"There he is," said Gru with contempt. "Margo's boyfriend. The nerve of that little punk, trying to woo my daughter!"

"Well, he's doing a pretty good job at it," said Dr. Nefario.

Gru rolls his eyes at Nefario's brutal honesty as they continued to watch the footage.

"_You were great at that crane game, Margo," complimented Alex. "I hope my impressions didn't break your concentration."_

"_Oh, Alex," replied Margo, "if I can do my homework while the dog is going crazy, I can concentrate anywhere."_

This warranted an amused laugh from Alex, prompting Gru to childishly mock said amused laugh.

"_Oh, Margo," said Alex lovingly, "I don't want today to end, ever."_

"_Me neither, Alex," agreed Margo lovingly._

_Hearing her son get along so well with his date made Susan let out a frustrated, almost depressed sigh, which Alex took note of._

"_Mom, is something wrong?" asked Alex._

_Susan didn't even try to hide what was bothering her and cut right to the chase._

"_Alex, sweetie," she said, "your father is out of control."_

"Yeah, no kidding," said Gru sarcastically.

_Margo and Alex didn't have to be detectives realize that it was his Gru problem that was making out of control. Did we mention this had been going on for three days?_

"_Does he still think Gru's a bad guy?" asked Alex._

"_Yeah," replied Susan, "and now there's a new update to that story. I won't go into details, but basically…Gru did something really nice for me, and I hugged him. Your father came in, and he thought Gru brainwashed me."_

_Alex groaned at this revelation as if he were a bratty kid who was denied his sweets._

"_Not this again," the incredulous teenager moaned._

"_Yes, this again," confirmed Susan, "and he said he was going to 'travel the world for a cure' or something like that. I have no idea where he is now."_

"_Oh no, how dare you hug him," deadpanned Margo._

_Alex forgot all about his embarrassment with his dad as he laughed at Margo's sarcasm. He couldn't believe it took him this long to appreciate what a good combination women and dry wit had, but here he was._

"_I love it when she talks like that," giggled Alex._

Gru could no longer stand Alex effortlessly charming his oldest daughter and begins to storm out of the lab, without even turning off the footage.

"That's it!" he angrily declared. "I'm putting an end to this now!"

It was a good thing that Gru forgot to turn off the footage, because the conversation that happened next would change everything.

"_Do _you_ think Gru's still a villain, Alex?" asked Susan._

"_No," her son replied, "of course not."_

At that moment, Gru stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, went back to the monitor, and watched the footage with more intrigue.

"_I know I said this before," explained Alex, "but…I really do believe people can change. I mean, we're all human, right? We make mistakes. We learn from them. And we become better people. Even super-cool secret agents, apparently. I know my dad doesn't want to believe it, and I don't know if he ever will, but…no, I don't think Gru's a villain. I think he's a good guy. And a good father. And I wish I could help him convince my dad that he's not a villain anymore."_

Gru couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt touched by Alex's words. This was the same boy he had just spied on, indirectly insulted, and almost interfered specifically for the crime of dating Margo, and now he was _vouching_ for him? He almost felt like he didn't deserve these praises.

Now that was _two_ Prestons that saw the good in him.

"Huh," commented Dr. Nefario, "I guess overdramatic speeches really do run in Devoted Devan's family."

"Shhh!" hushed Gru.

He wanted to keep listening.

"_Alex, can I tell you something I don't think I could ever tell my dad?" asked Margo._

"_Sure," encouraged Alex._

Gru suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

"_The Antonio incident wasn't the only reason I haven't been dating for a while," she explained. "My dad was…kind of an overprotective freak when it came to boys, but you already knew that. I mean, he was right about Antonio, for sure, but this was before I even met him. And I keep thinking…if I ever got interested in boys again, I just know he's going to have a heart attack over it. My biggest fear is that he won't ever let me see you again. If he did that, it would feel like I've been betrayed by the guy who took me in and gave up his life of crime for me."_

Gru, once again, couldn't believe what he was hearing. Whereas Alex was vouching for him, Margo was _shaming her own father _without even knowing it. In what she thought was their private alone time, she let out her deepest, darkest self-conscious thoughts that Gru specifically caused. Of all the things he suffered through today, this was the worst pain he had to go through. And the worst part was that _she was right_. Gru _had_ been an overprotective freak. He even had to spy on his daughter, violating her rights, to realize it.

"_Well, we can't avoid each other forever," reassured Alex. "We live on the same street."_

"_I don't think he'll do anything extreme, Margo," reassured Susan. "And whatever he does, I'm sure you'll find it in your heart to forgive him."_

"_Yeah, well, we'll see how I feel about that when he finds out about us," said Margo almost coldly._

Gru couldn't cope. He turned off the monitor and hung his head in shame. He had never felt more guilty in his life.

"I can't believe it," said a remorseful Gru.

"Can't believe what?" asked Dr. Nefario, legitimately concerned for his friend.

By now, you may have caught on that his hearing aid is working fine and dandy again.

"Dr. Nefario," said Gru, "I hurt Margo. She's afraid of dating because of me."

"It's not _all_ your fault," reassured Dr. Nefario. "It's Anthony's too. Or whatever his name was."

"Oh, doctor," said Gru, "I didn't mean to make Margo feel insecure about herself. And yet, I just can't stand the idea of her with a stupid…boy, and I don't know why. Maybe I _am_ still a villain."

Nefario couldn't stand Gru beating himself up and gently pats him on the back. Perhaps he _wasn't_ getting senile. At least, not yet.

"Hey, hey," he reassured. "Don't talk like that. You didn't mean to put those bad thoughts in her head. She just needs a memory wipe. We still have that hypnosis screen. C'mon. Let's make her forget all about what's-his-name."

Gru faced the hypnosis screen, which was currently off, then Nefario, then the floor again. He pondered what he should do. He had to admit, it was tempting to just hypnotize Margo with that screen and make her forget about Alex. But he knew that wouldn't be the right thing to do. At best, it would be only a temporary fix to the psychological issues she was clearly going through. At worst, hypnotizing your own children would likely be breaking a law somewhere. Not to mention Devoted Devan snooping around for evidence.

At last, Gru made his decision, and turned to Nefario.

"No," he said. "I have a better idea."

Dr. Nefario stared at Gru with curiosity. If they weren't going to use the hypnosis screen to make Margo forget about Alex…

…then what "better idea" did Gru have in mind?


	12. Gru Does the Unthinkable

**I truly hope you enjoy this chapter, because it's my personal favorite.**

**Chapter 12:**

**Gru Does the Unthinkable**

Devoted Devan continued to soar through the skies as his voyage continued. He was travelling the world, having the powers necessary to do so. He was desperately looking for the cure for the brainwashing he was sure Gru had done to his best friend, those little girls, and now his wife. But he wasn't having any luck finding what he was looking for. Every president and world leader from every country he visited was totally clueless—just like at the police station from earlier. This filled the desperate superhero with more and more frustration, and he was starting to wonder if he was ever going to find what he was looking for. But he needed to put the #1 supervillain to prison. Karma needed to find him. So, he pressed on, and traveled to more continents to meet more people who may know the answer.

* * *

Susan had finally finished her fourth 15-minute drive, and hopefully her last for the day. After her second ordeal with Hypno-Joe, she couldn't wait to relax at home, and her son and Margo could use some relaxation themselves. She just hoped her husband would be back soon from his world tour…for lack of a better term. The happy couple said their goodbyes and went back to their respective homes, hoping to see each other again soon.

As Margo approached her house, she hoped her secret with Alex was safe. Who knows how her father would react if he found out about their date? She tried her best to remember what Susan said about Gru not doing anything extreme. That woman did seem quite confident that he wouldn't. And considering he apparently did something nice for her earlier in the day, she must have had a good reason to be. Maybe she should give ol' Papa Gru the benefit of the doubt.

She tried not to think about it too hard as the opened the front door to the house. But as soon as she stepped into the house after closing the door, the first thing she saw was…

…her father, standing directly in front of her with his arms crossed in an angry face.

This can't be good.

"Uh…hi, dad," Margo casually greeted, already fearing the worst.

"And just where have you been, young lady?" asked Gru suspiciously.

"Uhhhh," said Margo, desperately trying to come up with an excuse, "at a friend's house."

Gru did not seem mollified by this excuse and only kept up his hardline stance, which scared Margo even more, and also made her curse herself. _That_ was the best excuse she could come up with?

"Yes," he said, "a _boy_friend? The son of Devoted Devan, perhaps?"

Margo didn't say anything, but her look of horror told her father everything he needed to know. This immediately made Margo scared as if she were facing a serial killer. What was he going to say about her and Alex?

"Yes, I know all about it, Margo," said Gru, getting straight to the point. "You're giving boys another chance!"

Without thinking, Margo got on her knees and resorted to begging, even though she doubted it would do any good.

"Please, dad," begged Margo, "please don't ban me from ever seeing him again! I really like him! He's nice, he's funny, he's cute, he's—"

"All yours," interrupted Gru.

Margo suddenly got up and stood angrily at her father, as if she misheard something.

"You can't do that, dad!" she said furiously. "I have the right to date whoever I—wait, what did you say?"

Of course, _you_ know about Gru's epiphany, but she doesn't. And the AVL agent felt a little guilty toying with her emotions like that. He didn't even know why he thought it was a good idea to troll his own daughter in the first place.

As Margo questioned Gru's change of heart, he bent down to her level and put her hand on her shoulder.

"I want to show you something," he said gently.

With that, Gru gets up with his hand still on her shoulder and walks her with him, making the preteen wonder where her father was taking her.

* * *

It was a long walk from the front door to this part of Gru's lab. Margo didn't say anything during this walk. What could she say? Her father had made his hatred for Margo dating boys abundantly clear, but now he said that Alex was "all hers" and then wanted to show her something? She took a look around her and wondered what that something was, before getting a glimpse of the hypnosis screen, which was currently off.

This worried Margo. Was he going to erase her memory of Alex?

These worries were nullified when Gru directs Margo's attention not to the hypnosis screen, but to a large circle-shaped device with lightbulbs attached to it and stairs ascending to it. It looked almost like a portal. Next to this strange machine was Dr. Nefario working on a computer next to it, which seemed to be connected to the portal-looking machine.

"What's that?" Margo wondered aloud.

Immediately, Gru jumped in front of the peculiar machine and pretended like he was advertising an infomercial, while Dr. Nefario played some music from the computer he was working on. It was the kind of cheesy music you would hear in infomercials, which only added to Margo's confusion. What was going on?

"_Presenting…the Quick Access Warp Zone! _

_Why waste gas driving to your stupid movie theaters when you can just warp there in an instant? _

_With its high-speed reaction, flame-resistant metal, electrifying anti-theft device, and the insignia of yours truly, the Quick Access Warp Zone is your one-way ticket to that mushy-gushy garbage you like so much! _

_Simply enter your password, the name and address of where you want to go, and how long you wish to spend there. Then the Quick Access Warp Zone will open the gate to your desired location! And when the time you entered runs out, you will be warped back home!_

_If you would like to order your own Quick Access Warp Zone for only $9,999,999, call: _

_1-800-KYLE-STOP-RIPPING-THE-MAILMAN-TO-SHREDS! _

_Gru Enterprises is not responsible for any sudden questioning of your life choices."_

By the time Gru was finished and Nefario turned the music off, Margo was in shock with a raised eyebrow and an open jaw—the kind of reaction she had when she met Gru as a "dentist" for the first time. What on Earth did she just watch? That infomercial bit just came right out of nowhere.

"…What?" was all she could say to this randomness.

Gru could feel Margo nonverbally telling him to cut the jokes and be realistic. So, he did. He bent down to Margo's level and put his hand on her shoulder once again, so he could tell her straight to her face his thoughts on her and Alex.

"Margo," he said sincerely, "all joking aside…I am 100% okay with you dating Alex now. Or maybe, like…75 and a half percent…ish."

Margo, however, did not seem entirely convinced, crossing her arms and keeping her raised eyebrow. It almost reminded Gru of how she didn't fully trust him when he first adopted her.

"Gee, dad, whatever happened to 'it doesn't matter unless it's a boy'?" asked Margo, imitating her father's Russian accent as best as she could.

Though slightly hurt, Gru understood why Margo didn't completely trust her father yet…and found her Gru voice amusing. Again, this reminded him of the time he first adopted the girls. After some brief contemplation, Margo gasped as she came to an alarming possibility.

"Oh no!" she screamed. "Hypno-Joe got to you!"

Gru scoffed at this notion, as did Dr. Nefario.

"I wish," he said. "You know AVL agents are trained to resist. No, Margo, I'm being serious. See, I…I used a Spy Fly to watch you and Alex."

Now Margo was outraged.

"You WHAT?!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, I know it was wrong," said Gru, "but it made me realize how overprotective I was of you. Doctor, roll the video."

At Gru's request, Dr. Nefario moved over to the larger computer monitor that led to the AVL agent's epiphany. At the press of a button, it displayed the footage of Margo indirectly calling out her father, now edited down to the main points.

"_My dad was…kind of an overprotective freak when it came to boys. My biggest fear is that he won't ever let me see you again. If he did that, it would feel like I've been betrayed by the guy who took me in and gave up his life of crime for me."_

Margo couldn't help but feel a little guilty hearing herself say that. When the video was finished playing, she turns to Gru sadly.

"Dad, I…" she all she could let out before Gru cut her off.

"Oh, don't apologize," said Gru. "You were right to feel that way. The boy was giving me a chance when his father wasn't. So, maybe I should return the favor. I shouldn't stop you from growing up. In fact, we started construction on the Quick Access Warp Zone specifically for your dates with that little twerp. When it's finished, you'll be able to warp wherever you want and back in an instant."

"For real?" asked Margo, still processing the situation.

"Well," said Dr. Nefario, "I thought it would be a better idea to wipe your memory of Alex with that hypnosis screen over there, but _someone_ said _noooooo_."

"Shhh!" hushed Gru.

His decision was already painful for him, and this geezer's childishness was not helping.

"Now, Margo," continued Gru, "I know it won't make up for the psychological pain I inflicted on—"

But before he could finish, he was ambushed by a warm, tight hug from his grateful daughter. It seemed like he was finally getting through to her.

"Oh, thank you, dad!" she cried, almost like she was about to burst into tears of happiness. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for doing this! This can't have been easy for you…"

"It wasn't," Gru confirmed with his stern parent voice. "I hope you appreciate what I do for you, young lady."

"I do," whispered Margo.

After letting go of her father, a shaking Margo ran to the lab's exiting elevator with excitement. She found her mother there, and couldn't stop herself from announcing the good news.

"Mom," she squealed, "dad's letting me date Alex! I'm gonna call him right now!"

Now inside the elevator, Margo was on her way to the surface so she could tell Alex the amazing update to her Gru situation. Susan was right. Gru didn't do anything drastic to stop their relationship. It was almost as if Susan was a fortune teller. And maybe, in that one instance, she was.

_This is so going in my diary, _thought Margo as the elevator rose to the surface.

As soon as Margo was gone, Lucy walked up to her hurting husband. She knew this wasn't easy for Gru, and wanted to help make feel better about his decision by putting her arm over his shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, Gru," she said warmly.

This made Gru smile again. Clearly this made up for breaking his promise not to spy on Margo and Alex. Now let's see if he can keep his _other_ promise to her.

"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do," admitted Gru, as if Lucy didn't already know. "Hopefully this is the first step to making peace with Devoted Devan."

At that moment, Gru and Lucy saw the Spy Fly return to the lab and land on the table in front of him. Without thinking, Gru was about to reach out and grab it, but Lucy stopped him. How, you may ask? By violently grabbing his elbow until it hurt, just like she did when she caught him going behind her back in their Freedonia trip.

"Don't even think about it," threatened Lucy.

"Owwwwwww…" was Gru's pained response.

* * *

Despite all his efforts to find what he was looking for, Devan could not find the cure for what Gru was doing to the people he loved. He had just about been around the world, and nothing. His final resort was to attend church and pray to the heavens. And that's exactly what he did. In the nearest church he could find, he kneeled before the huge picture of Chris Meledandri and began his prayer.

"O mighty God in heaven," he prayed, "I am in desperate need of your guidance. My wife, my best friend, and those three little girls are in very real danger, and I have no idea how to break the hold that scoundrel has over them. I've traveled all over the world, and I have no leads for a cure. I am completely lost. Please, lord, give me a sign that there is hope for all of those poor souls."

The worried superhero waited for a response from the heavens, but it didn't seem like they were telling him what he wanted to know. He didn't know how long he would need to wait for an answer.

"Take your time, heavenly father," he sighed. "I will wait as long as it takes for a sign."

But truthfully, he didn't know if he had the patience to wait very long with people's freedoms at stake. He probably wasn't even at a church. He may have just wandered into a studio lot in his desperation. Who could tell?


	13. The Final Piece of Evidence

**Trigger Warning:**** There are mentions of bleeding in this chapter. If you're sensitive to these mentions, read with caution. Really, this is the chapter where things start to get real.**

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

**The Final Piece of Evidence**

The first thing Margo did when she realized her usually-overprotective father was being serious about letting her date Alex was call the boy to tell him about Papa Gru's change of heart, and about the Quick Access Warp Zone. He was stoked to know they could be together, but also had a feeling that Gru would find it in his heart to let it happen anyway, not unlike his mother. It was clear that he was taught not to judge people by their past mistakes.

The happy couple couldn't wait to try out the Quick Access Warp Zone. But they had to. It wasn't finished yet, and Margo only heard the instructions from Gru once. Don't worry, though—there were plenty of things they could do together to keep themselves occupied until it was finished. When they weren't watching romantic movies at either of their homes, they were playing make-believe with Agnes. Scratch that, _Princess_ Agnes of the Land of Unicorns, with Lady Margo as the captain of the guard.

Finally, after a few days of waiting, the Quick Access Warp Zone was finished, but the couple needed to give it a test run to see if it works. Their first destination was the park, which was relatively close, and they set the time to five minutes. Once there, they swung on the swingsets together, and were warped back to the lab in the five minutes they entered. Now that they know it works, they were ready to make the most of it.

For the next few days, the happy couple went to all kinds of places for their romantic dates. They went back to the theater to watch a happier movie; they went to the beach to build sandcastles, which is especially appropriate for summer; and they went to Super Silly Fun Land to have fun with the rollercoasters and shootouts.

But by far, their favorite place was the Karaoke Plaza, a recently-built place for kids to sing karaoke. When they went on stage, they sang "Leave It All to Me" by Miranda Cosgrove—a personal favorite of Margo's.

Even after a week had passed, Margo was still surprised Gru…well, _grew_ out of his overprotective phase. Then again, he had given her more chores to do, specifically to make her work harder for her dating rights. Hey, just because he was making the ultimate sacrifice doesn't mean he was going easy on her. Margo didn't complain because she believed in hard work anyway, and this was better than nothing.

Susan was happy to see her son had found love…but she was also worried about her husband. He's been gone for a long time in his search for a "cure" for the "brainwashing" that Gru has done, or something silly like that. She hoped he would be back soon from his doomed quest and be more accepting of the man who saved her from being Hypno-Joe's wife.

Fortunately, her wish came true as she saw Devoted Devan returning home, having apparently no other place in the world left to go. However, she was disappointed to find him heading toward Gru's house instead of his own. She didn't have to be a detective to know the reason why. Hadn't this gone on long enough?

Right now, Margo and Alex were sitting in front of the TV in another one of their romantic movie dates without a care in the world.

"See, Margo?" said Alex. "We told you your dad wasn't gonna do anything extreme."

"This _is_ extreme," said Margo, "just in a positive way."

Alex then became a little worried.

"Speaking of dads," he said, "I'm worried about mine. He's been gone for two days now. Looking for a "cure" that probably doesn't even exist."

"Why, your dad is right here!" came a little girl's voice that was trying so hard to sound heroic.

At that moment, the couple turned their attention to…

Agnes in a superhero pose dressed like Devoted Devan. Like, almost _exactly_ like him. She had the same red suit, blue cape, and two white D's on her chest that Devan typically wears.

"Look at me, Margo!" she happily proclaimed. "I'm Devoted Devan!"

An amused Alex and Margo look back and smile back at Agnes. She was just so adorable.

"Son," bellowed Agnes playfully, "it's dangerous out here! The evil ninja is at large! Go to your room!"

"Aw, daaad!" whined Alex playfully while laughing.

"Oh no, not the evil ninja!" said Margo playfully, knowing exactly who Agnes was talking about. "What did she do?

"She kidnapped the legendary unicorn!" replied Agnes.

Right on cue, Edith came out of nowhere in her ninja costume and a stuffed unicorn in her hand.

"Mwahaha!" she laughed through her cloth. "That's right, Devoted Devan! Your precious unicorn is mine now!"

And with that, she runs off with the unicorn, and Agnes chases after her. Edith usually doesn't partake in Agnes' silly games, but she couldn't pass the chance to play the villain.

"You'll never get away with this, evil ninja!" called Agnes.

As Margo and Alex enjoyed watching this superhero game, they were met with yet another dramatic entrance Devoted Devan. The _real_ Devoted Devan, that is.

"I have returned!" he bellowed.

Margo and Alex were quite excited to see the famous super after he was gone for so long, mostly because they wanted him to see Agnes and Edith's adorable superhero game.

"Dad, you gotta see this!" exclaimed Alex.

"See what?" asked a confused Devan.

Devan soon saw what his son meant when he caught a glimpse of Agnes in her superhero costume chasing Edith in her ninja costume down the halls.

"Return my noble steed, evil ninja!" yelled Agnes playfully.

"Never!" retorted Edith.

"Isn't she adorable?" said Margo, who just couldn't stand how adorable this game was.

"Yes…" said an intrigued Devan.

Many thoughts were going through Devan's head when he witnessed this. Children as young as Agnes and Edith should not be running down the halls like that. There could be slippery floors, or they could run into something. It just didn't look safe. Devan would expect his son or Margo to warn the two children of the dangers, but they seemed too invested in watching them play. Perhaps Devan should intervene and tell those kids to be more careful.

But then, something clicked.

Gru was nowhere to be seen. If Agnes or Edith hurt themselves running down the halls, Gru could get in big trouble for it. He could be held accountable. He could go to jail. He could have his children taken away.

This was dangerous! This was irresponsible! This was…perfect!

All Devan had to do was film the inevitable moment where Edith and Agnes would get hurt, and he would have the final piece of evidence he needed to put Gru in jail. Only a few seconds have passed during the game of make-believe as the super pondered these options, but those few seconds were all he needed.

Without thinking, Devan got out his video camera and filmed the chase.

"It's over, evil nin—"

Before Agnes could finish her sentence, the game comes to an abrupt halt at the devastating sound of the kitchen door swinging wide open and hitting Agnes hard on her head.

**THWACK!**

The impact was so hard that it left a huge cut on Agnes' forehead. The pain was so hard that Agnes began to cry, and everyone around her stopped what they were doing to gasp in horror.

That is, everyone except for Devan, who continued to film with his camera, his excitement heightening when he sees the culprit.

Gru.

He too gasped in horror upon realizing what he did.

"Oh, no!" he quickly screamed.

He didn't mean to hurt Agnes like that. It was an accident. But to Devan, this was the key to his ultimate victory over his "villainous" neighbor.

Instinctively, Agnes' sisters, father, and Alex ran up to the crying child to check on her. She was bleeding, and Gru wasted no time cradling her in his arms as she sobbed in pain.

"She's really hurt," said a horrified Margo.

"Agnes, honey, I am so sorry!" apologized Gru in the sincerest manner possible.

Devan kept on filming. He should be horrified by the injured, crying six-year-old girl, but he was enjoying the evidence he was getting.

"What happened?" came a voice.

It was Lucy. It didn't take her long to realize that Agnes was hurt, and like the others, immediately went to check on her. This gave the still-filming Devan some hope that Lucy will wise up and recover from the effects of Love Potion #10.

"Oh, no!" she screamed. "Agnes!"

"It hurts," sobbed Agnes.

"It wasn't me this time, I swear!" said a panicking Edith.

Fortunately, Gru knew what to do.

"Everyone give me some room," he requested.

And give him room they did. Lucy, the girls, and Alex backed away to give Gru some space. This allowed him to get out a strange ray gun-like device from nowhere and aim it at Agnes.

"Hold still, Agnes," he said gently.

Gru then aimed his ray gun at Agnes, and pressed a button on it. Out of it came a beam that was slowly-but-surely dissolving the cut, making the blood and her pain go away second by second.

It was a healing ray.

"You're going to be okay, sweetie," soothed Gru. "Just keep holding still. You're doing great."

Alex was the first to notice his father filming Agnes' pain on his camera. He couldn't believe it! What kind of jerk films a six-year-old in pain?

"Dad, this is serious!" yelled Alex. "Put away that camera!"

"Why, certainly, son," agreed Devan as he stopped filming and put the camera away. "Believe me, it would be my pleasure, now that I have all the evidence I need to put Gru behind bars!"

The others couldn't believe what they heard. Did Devan, the beloved superhero, just say what they think he said?

"Yes," he continued, "that cruel villain undoubtedly did this on purpose! First Love Potion #10, then the hypnosis screen, and now this!"

"No!" insisted Margo. "It was an accident!"

But, as usual, Devan didn't listen.

"Now that I have proven that Gru is a bad person, a bad husband, and even a bad father," declared Devan, "it is time to show all of this evidence to the police! Your girls will be taken away from you, Gru!"

While still healing Agnes, Gru turns to Devan in shock and rage, but he quickly flew out of the building with his "evidence" before he could really see it.

This was it. Devoted Devan has overstepped.

"Somebody has to stop my dad!" cried a horrified Alex.

"Why?" asked a skeptical Margo, focusing more on her healing sister than the false evidence. "I don't think the police will believe this as evidence that my dad's still a villain."

"Perhaps," said Gru in a fury while still healing Agnes, "but I love you girls too much to take that risk."

"I'll take over, Gru," said Lucy, intending to take the healing ray from Gru and finish the job. "You go after Devan."

Gru nodded his head, gave the healing ray to Lucy, and rushed to go after Devan. Lucy picked up from where Gru left off in healing Agnes with the ray gun. Fortunately, she didn't have very long to go, and in no time, the cut was finally healed.

"How are you feeling, honey?" asked Lucy as Agnes got up and rubbed her forehead. "Are you still hurting?"

"No," replied Agnes. "I feel better now."

This warranted a _huge_ sigh of relief from her mother, her sisters, and Alex.

"That was close," said Margo.

"Where did daddy go?" asked Agnes.

"He's taking care of some…daddy things," replied Lucy, hoping she would get to keep her children.

* * *

_I'm gonna be honest: this wasn't my favorite chapter. The movies haven't shown enough of Gru's hallways for the choreography to work all that great, Devan's descent into madness feels a bit too quick, and I feel bad for putting sweet little Agnes getting that nasty cut._

_Next chapter will be way better, trust me._


	14. Devoted Devan Crosses the Line

**Chapter 14:**

**Devoted Devan Crosses the Line**

These "daddy things" were Gru getting himself ready to chase Devoted Devan. He had to take the "evidence" back from the super before he could present them to the police. And what better vehicle to use for the job than the helicopter Lucy piloted earlier in their chase with Dru? It had mechanical hands capable of grabbing things, as well as a tracking system. Both of these were equally important for this mission. Gru knew where in his lab it was parked and quickly got it fired up. The hatch to the surface opened, and the chase was on. Lucy, Susan, and their kids watched him depart, hoping the ex-villain will prevail.

It didn't take the helicopter's tracking system very long to detect where Devan currently was. The police station was in another city, but luckily, Devan was still in California. He had the empty Love Potion #10 in one hand, and his video camera in the other.

While he was trying to figure out how to get to the police station from where he was, he heard a whirring sound from behind him. Knowing exactly who it was and why he was here, he turned around to find his nemesis piloting a helicopter with giant mechanical hands. Gru could not wait to lay into him for even thinking about taking his children away.

"You want a villain?" yelled Gru through the helicopter's speakers. "You've got one!"

And so, the fight began.

The helicopter's hands made several attempts to grab the empty capsule and the camera from Devan, but try as they might, Devan was too quick for them, dodging every swipe swiftly.

"Ha, HA!" he taunted, feeling confident that he may have finally bested the ex-villain.

Perhaps _too_ confident, as he failed to anticipate one hand slapping Devan, inching him a few feet away from the helicopter. Despite this, he still managed to hold onto the evidence, which angered Gru even more.

"No one threatens to take away my girls!" bellowed Gru through the helicopter's speakers.

Once again, the helicopter pursued Devan as he flew away with the very things that Gru needed. The helicopter was moving faster than your average everyday helicopter, and Devan wondered how he was going to lose it. Then, he got an idea.

In attempt to trick and crash the helicopter, Devan descended closer to the streets in a fakeout. Gru merely scoffed at this idea. It didn't work for Dru, so why would it work for Devan? Gru activated a feature on the helicopter that allowed it to develop wheels that safely traversed the surface to pursue Devan. Realizing his distraction wasn't working, Devan took to the skies once again, and Gru's helicopter lost the wheels to follow.

When it seemed like Devan finally got some breathing space from the pursuing vehicle, he once again tried to remember where his destination was.

"Now, where is that police station?" he wondered aloud.

Gru, however, wasn't finished yet, as his helicopter caught up with the pondering super and used its hands to continue attempting to swipe the evidence from him. Though unsuccessful in its attempts to grab it, this was making it harder for Devan to concentrate, so there was that. Eventually, Devan grew so tired of the harassment that he attempted to kick the vehicle's glass window with its foot.

Unfortunately (or maybe not so), the glass was too strong for Devan to break, and the humiliated super only succeeded in stubbing his toe—hard. Gru felt quite proud of himself for this machinery being too strong for Devan to penetrate. Karma was brutal.

"Owwwwww!" screamed Devan in pain.

And karma was just beginning. In Devan's moment of pain, one of the mechanical hands gave Devan a hard punch to the face, once again sending him a few feet away. But again, he still held onto the evidence.

Finally, Devan caught a glimpse of what he was looking for with his super vision.

The police station.

"There it is!" cried Devan.

Gru panicked. Despite the unlikeliness of the police believing this as true evidence, he couldn't let the girls down. As Devan zoomed toward the police station, the AVL agent decided to take a shortcut.

At last, Devan landed in front of the police station. He couldn't wait to present Love Potion #10 and the footage on his camera to the police. He would love to see the look on Gru's face when he lost everything he had. But just as he was about to go in, he was suddenly greeted by Gru jumping in front of him wearing a tiki mask.

"OOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!" shrieked Gru.

This startled Devan, and caused him to shriek like a little girl.

In his freak-out moment, Devan dropped his camera and Love Potion #10 on the stairs, causing them to break. The stairs were hard cement, the capsule was glass, and the camera wasn't built for falls, so it's unlikely that they would have survived.

"MY EVIDENCE!" screamed Devan.

Mission accomplished.

Gru took off his tiki mask and takes a moment to blow a raspberry at him. After all the stalking, the false accusations, and the threats to take his daughters, the AVL agent couldn't help but gloat like he's never gloated before. He didn't even care that this was making him angrier, since he lost his evidence. Served him right!

But the fight was not over yet, as Devan took the tiki mask from Gru and slapped him in the face with it. He was about to punch the ex-villain in the face, but Gru dodged. He tried to punch him again, but Gru jumped out of the way, caught by a mechanical hand from the helicopter, and put back into the cockpit.

Did we forget to mention that it had an autopilot setting?

With control over the helicopter regained, Gru prepared to fly back home.

"Buh-bye!" called Gru smugly through the speakers.

But Devan wasn't going to let him get away that easily.

_That was too easy, _thought Gru as he kept flying away. _You still got it, Gru._

Devan wouldn't give up trying to take Gru down, and in his rage didn't anticipate that he would be noticed by the tracking feature. Sure enough, Gru noticed Devan is flying up to the machine, and used one of the hands to grab Devan and throw him far away, chuckling smugly as he did so.

The humiliated super landed next to a street lamp, and in his perseverance, got the idea to rip it from the ground, and charge at the helicopter with it. Holding the street lamp like a baseball bat, Devan got closer to the vehicle, and smashed the helicopter with it before Gru could react time. This caused the vehicle to lose control and crash onto the street. Devan was glad that _something_ was able to penetrate the darned thing.

Though Gru was unharmed by the crash, he wished Devan would give up already. But it didn't seem like he had any intention to, as he slowly floated toward the ex-villain. Quickly, Gru got out his freeze ray and blasted it at Devan, leaving him frozen solid. Thinking he won the battle, Gru smugly walked away. Devan, however, burst out of the ice he was trapped in.

Gru felt stupid for forgetting that Devan could break out of ice with enough strength.

He was once again about to charge at Gru, who counterattacked with a slap to Devan's face. The two were feeling quite exhausted from their fight.

"I'm getting really tired of you," panted Devan.

"Same here," panted Gru.

As they continued to throw punches at each other, they suddenly hear voices.

"Devan, stop!"

It was Margo.

They turn around to find…the girls!

"Don't hurt him!" cried Agnes.

"Leave him alone!" yelled Edith angrily.

Gru was shocked by this. How did the girls get here?

"Girls!" he cried. "You're not supposed to be he—"

But before Gru could finish his sentence, Devan capitalized on Gru's moment of distraction and unleashed a strong uppercut onto Gru, sending him flying upwards to the top of a three-story building.

The girls were frightened beyond belief to witness this. Their father was now on top of a very tall building at easy falling distance, having trouble getting up. He could go ker-splat at any moment, and worse, Devan didn't seem to care.

"Come on down so we can fight some more!" he bellowed.

The worst was yet to come.

Just as Gru was getting up, he slipped, and was now hanging for dear life.

The girls panicked at the sight of their father on the verge of death. Not only did it give them horrible flashbacks of the Balthazar Bratt incident in Hollywood, but what would happen to their living conditions if they didn't have a father anymore?

"Dad!" screamed Margo and Edith.

"Daddy!" screamed Agnes.

"Or…heh, that works too," chuckled Devan, almost intrigued, even _amused_ by Gru's current position.

The girls caught on that Devan wasn't helping Gru right away, and instinctively yell at him to do something. They didn't want to see their father die, after all.

"Don't just stand there!" growled Edith. "Help him!"

"No," Devan bluntly replied.

The girls gasped in horror when they heard this. Did Devoted Devan, the superhero who was famous for helping people and saving lives, just say he was going to refuse to save someone, let alone someone they loved?

"You heard me," confirmed Devan—yep. "Your father had this coming for a long time now, if you can even call him that. After all the terrible things he has done, including destroying my evidence, he doesn't deserve to be saved!"

"Yes, he does!" retorted Margo.

But Devan didn't listen, and at this point, it was straight-up insulting.

"No longer will you girls have to live under the abuse of that evil man!" continued Devan. "Whatever future holds for you, it will be infinitely better than living with the world's greatest supervillain!"

The girls could see that Gru was starting to lose his grip, making them even more scared.

"You're just gonna let him die?!" asked Agnes, despite Devan making that point already clear.

"Precisely," replied Devan coldly. "This is the beginning of the end of his tyranny."

Now the girls were getting angry. Their father's life was ending, and Devoted Devan was completely going against the superhero way!

"You big, stupid jerk!" chastised Edith.

"You don't approve?" said an unfazed Devan. "Well, I'm sorry for trying to save you from a supervillain."

"By letting him _die_?!" screamed Margo.

"If you don't save him," threatened Edith, "then you're not our hero anymore!"

"Then so be it," retorted Devan.

Agnes would join her sisters in chastising the stubborn super, but her focus remained on her father in peril. She was so afraid of him dying that she began to cry again.

"Daddy, _please_ don't die!" she sobbed.

"You won't get away with this!" threatened Margo. "It will stay with you forever!"

"Yes," said Devan, "I can hear the crowds cheering for me right now! How I have ended the reign of the greatest villain of all time!"

Finally, Gru could hold onto the ledge no longer. He slipped, making the girls scream and cry as he was falling three stories, screaming along the way.

Was this the end of Gru?

"I can't look!" cried Agnes as she covered her eyes.

Margo and Edith couldn't watch either and covered their eyes too. Devan, however, watched his nemesis fall, eagerly hoping he would perish upon hitting the hard cement road or sidewalk, ending his tyranny.

But just before that was about to happen, Gru was suddenly caught by a yellow beam that slowed down his fall. He, Devan, and the girls turned their heads to see….

Lucy.

She was the one who fired the beam from a wristwatch she was wearing. But while the wristwatch saved Gru's life, it couldn't hold him very good due to his weight, and Lucy clearly looked strained while she was getting it to work right. Gru finally landed onto the gravel nonfatally, but hard enough to hurt him.

"Owww," he groaned.

As soon as Gru managed to get up noticeably strained, the girls couldn't hold back their emotions any longer. They ran up to their father, wrapped their arms around him, and cried their hearts out. This was all too much to endure. Gru hated seeing his sweethearts crying up a storm and gently consoled them as best he could, wrapping his arms around them too.

"Shh-shh-shh-shh," he soothed.

"Are you okay?" sobbed Margo. "Are you hurt?"

"A little," admitted Gru. "Not gonna lie."

Gru couldn't bring himself to lie to his three little kittens, nor could he hide his pain, which made them even sadder.

"We thought you were a goner!" sobbed Margo.

"That stupid superhero refused to save you!" sobbed Edith.

"We were so scared!" sobbed Agnes.

As the girls continued to cry, Devan watched the solemn sight with a guilty look on his face. Those little girls really loved their father, and he loved them. And Devan was singlehandedly responsible for traumatizing them, as well as possibly ending their faith in him. Edith _did_ say he wouldn't be their hero anymore if he didn't try to save their father. Which he didn't.

And now, he wished he had. He wanted to go back in time and redo it again so those adorable little girls wouldn't be sad anymore. But unlike Superman, that was a power he did not possess. He had to face the reality of his actions.

Devan had never felt more guilty in his whole life. What had he done? How could he have let his pursuit of Gru go this far? Everyone was telling him to let go of the shovel, and he just kept digging. And now, he hit magma.

He didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. But that's exactly what happened. Because of him, Gru hurt his leg, Agnes got a nasty cut, her and her sisters were traumatized, and Lucy was giving him an angry glare.

"Some best friend _you_ turned out to be," she coldly said before joining Gru in comforting the girls.

And Devan knew she was right. He _hadn't _been a good friend. Or a good neighbor. Or a good hero. Or good at anything, really.

There was nothing for Devan to do but hang his head in shame, the sound of the crying girls likely to haunt him forever. What was his wife going to say about this? What was his _son_ going to say about this?

He finally realized that Gru was no longer a villain, but at what cost?

What had he done?


	15. Devoted No More

**Chapter 15:**

**Devoted No More**

No matter how hard they tried, the Gru children couldn't take their minds off of that stupid incident that happened earlier today. Margo, Edith, and Agnes were watching a movie on the living room TV, but they just weren't enjoying the adorable singing cartoon animals as much as they should, or laughing at the silly moments as much as they should. At best, one or two of them would let out a "heh" every now and then. This was supposed to be a fun time, a time that they earned through their hard work with the chores, but they just weren't having fun.

"What's the mouse's name again?" asked Agnes in a deflated voice.

"Mike," replied an equally deflated Margo.

"I would have guessed Ted," moaned Agnes.

"You would have guessed wrong," said Edith in a tone that's too miserable to sound like a smartypants.

When Edith doesn't even have the energy to mess with her sisters, you know something went wrong.

Gru and Lucy could tell that their daughters were not happy campers, and knew the reason why. They couldn't stand seeing their three little kittens so sad, and walked into the living room to talk with them. As soon as the girls saw this, they instinctively turned off the TV and made room for their parents as they sat down on the couch with them. They could use some parental company right now.

"Hello, girls," greeted Gru. "Are you doing okay?"

"Depends on your definition," replied a still-deflated Margo. "And you?"

"Same," replied Gru, once again not finding it in his heart to lie to his children. "My leg is still a little sore from that hard landing."

"Look," said Lucy, "we know you're still kind of upset about watching your father almost…you know…"

"It's not just that," interrupted Edith. "We just…can't believe Devoted Devan just…refused to save you. Last time I checked, that's, like, the exact opposite of what superheroes do."

"Not to mention how he was kinda responsible for putting you on that ledge in the first place," added Margo.

"He didn't even seem to care that I got hurt," said Agnes, legitimately offended. "That was so mean."

"Honey," said Lucy matter-of-factly, "'mean' doesn't even begin to describe it."

"You know," said Gru gently-but-firmly, "not to rub salt in the wound, but…you girls shouldn't have been in the middle of the city while we were fighting."

"We were worried!" retorted Edith defensively.

"No, Edith," said Margo, calming her down, "he's right. We shouldn't have. Sorry, guys."

"Oh, honey," soothed Lucy sympathetically.

"Mom, daddy," said Agnes, "I never said thank you for…for…"

"Getting rid of your cut?" asked Margo, who knew her little sister was fumbling with her words due to her age, and wanted to come to her rescue.

"Uh-huh," replied Agnes.

"You are every flavor of welcome for that, sweetie," said Gru sympathetically.

"Yeah," Edith jumped in, "because you help people that need to be helped, unlike a certain superhero who shall remain nameless."

"And we know you're trying to raise us to be good and be nice to people," said Margo.

"We were so proud that time you girls taught that boy how to ride a bicycle," said Lucy warmly.

"I didn't think he would learn so fast," said Margo.

"I know, me neither!" said Edith.

From that point on, the conversation had shifted from moping about Devan's misdeeds to back-patting for all the nice things the girls have done. It appears that the Grus were already in the process of getting over Devan's rescue refusal.

* * *

We wish we could say the same for the Prestons. Devan still felt horrible about what he did, while his wife and son were furious with him, as he expected. Alex could see the Grus talking things out from the living room window. Not the best view, but good enough to tell that his love was affected by the incident.

"Thanks a lot, dad!" said Alex sarcastically in anger the minute he looked away from the window. "Because of what you did, my girlfriend is traumatized!"

Devan felt a little bit happier to hear about his son's relationship with Margo upgrading to "official boyfriend and girlfriend". It was a relationship he has always supported even at his absolute worst in taking Gru down.

"Oh, she's your official girlfriend now!" exclaimed Devan. "That's so sweet!"

"Don't change the subject!" scolded Susan. "Accusing our neighbor of being evil is one thing, but you let him fall to his death! Do you have any idea how that makes you look? I don't even want to _think_ about what would have happened if Lucy hadn't come to his rescue!"

Devan was getting nervous. He had _never_ seen his wife this angry with him before.

"Well…at least now I know that nobody is brainwashed…right?" laughed Devan sheepishly.

"Yeah," retorted Alex, "and all it took for you to realize it was to almost kill a man!"

There was a moment of silence as Devan let his indignant son's words sink in.

"Alex, Susan," he said, "this is not what I wanted at all."

"Well, what _did_ you want, Devan?" asked Susan angrily.

"What I've always wanted," replied Devan nervously, "to protect you…protect everyone from…what I _thought_ was a criminal mastermind."

"Well, you didn't do a very good job at it," fumed Alex.

"First, you attack Gru after just meeting him," scolded Susan. "Then, you accuse him of things he didn't do, and even recorded false evidence just to put him in jail. _Then_, you threatened to have child services take his daughters away! And now this! I can't even remember the last time you did any hero work! I mean, where were you when Hypno-Joe tried to make me his wife again?!"

"He used a giant boot to—" Devan tried to explain, before Susan cut him off.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses," she interrupted, "because nothing could justify the damage you caused!"

"Now I'm gonna be known as 'that kid whose superhero dad went psycho'," chastised Alex.

Devan was left aghast at Susan and Alex's harsh words. The reality of his actions and how it hurt the people around him hit him like a ton of bricks, and he was at a loss for words.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he meekly said.

"Don't apologize to us!" retorted Susan. "Apologize to our neighbors! They're the ones you hurt the most!"

"I tried, remember?" said Devan. "But they don't want to talk to me."

"Gee, I wonder why," asked Alex sarcastically.

"Those girls were being serious when they said you weren't their hero anymore," reminded Susan coldly. "I don't think you're anyone's hero anymore, frankly."

"That reminds me of a so—" Devan was about to say, but Susan has had enough.

"I think it's best if you sleep on the couch tonight," she said without missing a beat.

Now Devan was shocked. The old exile to the couch? Was his wife being serious right now? That's never happened to him before, and he was hoping it never would after 20 years with her.

"What?!" exclaimed Devan. "No, Susan…don't do this!"

Susan was only half-paying attention to her guilty husband in the process of storming upstairs.

"I just did," she coldly retorted, not seeming to care about the confidence draining from her husband at the moment.

After slamming her bedroom door, only the guilt-ridden superhero and his son were together in the living room. But that didn't last long, as Alex was going upstairs too, with a clear intention to get away from his father. He does turn around to say one last thing, which Devan hoped would be words of comfort.

"You know," he said, "sometimes, I think Hypno-Joe would have made a better father than you."

Nope.

Those words hit Devan like Kryptonite. His own son…did he really just say that? Was he seriously saying he would rather have a diabolical super-criminal for a father?!

After Alex slammed the door to his room as well, Devan was completely alone. No Susan, no Alex, no Lucy, nobody. Just him and his haunting guilt. And it would remain that way tonight, since Susan made it abundantly clear that she doesn't want to sleep next to him. This was the first time that happened to him, and he never realized how much it would hurt.

And his son…he said in no uncertain terms that he wished he had a supervillain for a father instead of a superhero. And all it took to bring those horrible thoughts out was a refusal to save Gru.

Devan no longer felt hatred toward the former supervillain. Envy to how forgiving his family was for his mistakes, maybe, but not hatred. He understood that Gru was done with villainy for real and that his family loved him legitimately. He understood this because he felt his own family didn't love him anymore. And given the guilt on his shoulders, he understood _why_ they didn't love him anymore.

To think that all this trouble started because Devan suspected his neighbor to still be plotting dastardly schemes. He wanted to protect the world from evil, but only made things worse. The more he thought about it, the more it hurt. He wanted to be a hero, but now he was no one's hero. Susan said so herself.

The message was clear. Devoted Devan was not meant to be a superhero.

* * *

Devan couldn't sleep a wink that night. So many things were going on in his head, mainly his catastrophic mistake. And he was all alone. Just him, his blanket, and his self-hatred. The experience of sleeping on the couch was just as painful as the sentence. Not because it was uncomfortable, but because he can't shake off those horrible things everyone said about him.

_Some best friend _you_ turned out to be._

_Because of what you did, my girlfriend is traumatized!_

_Accusing our neighbor of being evil is one thing, but you let him fall to his death!_

_I can't even remember the last time you did any hero work!_

_I don't think you're anyone's hero anymore, frankly._

_You know, sometimes, I think Hypno-Joe would have made a better father than you._

Well, that was it. Devan was done with the superhero business. He was going to quit first thing in the morning. It was clearly what his wife and son want him to do.

* * *

Alex didn't sleep that great either. He felt guilty about the horrible things he said to his father yesterday, and he imagined his mother must feel bad too. He especially felt bad for saying Hypno-Joe, an infamous supervillain who almost stole his mother at least twice, would have made a better father. How could he say that? It was almost as if Hypno-Joe had some control over him and Susan that made them turn against Devoted Devan, despite being locked away.

He and his mother were so angry with Devoted Devan for getting into that ugly fight with Gru, and for not helping him when he almost fell to his death. But that was just because they loved him so much. They didn't want anything bad to happen to his reputation. He was a well-loved superhero, and they wanted him to keep it that way. And he couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe they were too hard on him. He did feel genuinely guilty, after all, and yesterday's scolding only made him feel worse.

He didn't know how he fell asleep that night, but the next morning, he woke up with almost no more anger towards his father. He wanted to patch things up with his old man.

"Alex, honey," he heard his mother call, "breakfast!"

And what a perfect time to do so. He would head down for breakfast, wait for his superdad to arrive, and apologize for snapping so hard. Then, maybe they could work out a makeup plan. Plus, he was hungry.

* * *

After getting out of his pajamas and into his clothes, he finds that his parents have beaten him to the breakfast table, making him feel slightly annoyed at himself with how long he took to get ready for omelets. But then he took a closer look and realized that his father was not wearing his usual superhero outfit. He was just wearing everyday clothes, he had let some hair grow around his face, and from the tired look in his eyes, he didn't get a real good night's sleep.

"Devvy," he heard his mother say, "things were said, mistakes were made…"

"You cannot change my mind about this," interrupted Devan. "My decision is final."

This worried the teenager as he finally sat down at the table to see what the matter was.

"W…What's going on?" he asked with concern as Susan served him his omelet. "Why aren't you in your outfit, dad?"

"Son," he said, "there's something I want you to know. As of today, I am officially hanging up my outfit and cape for good."

Alex almost choked on his omelet when he heard this.

"What?!" he asked with shock. "You're retiring?!"

"That is correct," confirmed Devan. "Yesterday has made it very clear that I am a failure as a superhero. I caused the people I love nothing but pain. Committed horrible actions that warranted an exile to the couch. For the first time ever."

"Devvy," consoled Susan, "you made a mistake. We were too hard on you. I'm sorry I made you sleep on the couch. I'll never do that again."

"You can make it right, dad," encouraged Alex. "You're Devoted Devan!"

"Not anymore, son," said Devan. "Now, I am simply…Devan. And so, I go and eat my breakfast by myself, like the menace to society that I am."

With that, Devan picked up his omelet and left the kitchen, likely to eat his breakfast in the parents' room. He didn't even fly out of the kitchen like he usually does. Just walked.

As Susan and Alex watched Devan leave and beat himself up at the same time, they exchanged worried looks to each other.

"We did this!" said Alex.

"I know!" said Susan.


	16. To Err Is Human

**Chapter 16:**

**To Err Is Human**

Another week has passed since Devoted Devan quit the life of a superhero in shame, and word of his retirement has since been made public. People who supported him were already expressing disappointment for various reasons, mainly their willingness to overlook or even forgive Devan's mistakes. They wanted him to keep protecting them. Who cares if he almost let someone die? At least that someone didn't _actually_ die.

Devan, however, was not keen on going back to being a superhero. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was the Gru children crying after seeing their father almost die, because of him. He felt like a failure as a superhero, and was currently looking for work elsewhere.

Susan and Alex felt partially responsible for Devan coming to this conclusion, given the nasty things they said to him the day he made his mistake. Devan technically started it, but two wrongs don't make a right. They were constantly apologizing to the sad super the whole week, and Susan kept her word about not making him sleep on the couch again. But despite all the regret and familial love, Devan still wanted to find another job.

You'd think this would spell disaster for humanity. Supervillains all around the world could form alliances to declare war on peace and harmony, create worldwide chaos, and all kinds of terrible things like that. And while that hasn't happened yet (as far as everyone knew), there was always a chance it could. Susan almost wanted to scream at her husband for not doing anything to prevent this, but then she remembered that screaming at her husband was what made him quit in the first place. He needed love and support, not harsh scoldings, and she and Alex would not stop begging Devan to do the right thing.

* * *

As it turns out, it didn't take that long for Gru's leg to get all healed up—and just in time for another battle with himself and Dru. As with last time, Team Grucy emerged victorious, and Dru vowed to break out so they could do it again. They were thankful this was an opponent using self-restraint so that no serious harm would befall his opposers. If this were someone like Balthazar Bratt, things would not have been pretty. But since Dru and the Minions were back in prison, that meant the girls were stuck with the chores once again. They were going to love that…

The two AVL agents earned some relaxation on the living room couch to watch some TV. They were worried about Devan's self-esteem and wanted to see if his retirement story had any updates on the news. They changed the channel to MSNBC, and as luck would have it, they were talking about Devan's retirement at that very moment.

"_Last week, famous superhero Devoted Devan has publicly announced that he will be permanently retiring from the superhero business. The reason he gave was that he feels ashamed for refusing to save former supervillain Felonious Gru from falling to his demise, whose retirement he initially believed was a cover, and that he was afraid he'll do something worse. Fortunately, crime has not risen in Devan's departure as law enforcement continues to do their best ensuring humanity's safety."_

The news report then played footage of Dru and the Minions standing on top of a tall building menacingly. Well, as menacingly as they can be. It was really more on the same level of a child _trying_ to be menacing. It wasn't helped by a good majority of the Minions waving to the cameras as if they were children saying hi to their mothers now that they were on TV.

Wait…do Minions have parents?

"_Bow before me!"_

Without warning, various AVL agents piled onto the blonde supervillain to tackle him, making him scream like a little girl, while the Minions peace out, both to escape the chaos and to try to get their chance to wave to the camera. Gru and Lucy gave a light chuckle at this as the TV cut back to the man reporting.

"_Despite this, a vast majority of citizens are missing the guilt-ridden superhero, stating he should forget about the past and make a grand return to the superhero game. Stay tuned as further developments unfold."_

"Crime _hasn't_ risen in his departure?" commented Gru skeptically as it cut to the commercial break. "I find that hard to believe. Then again, Devan's not the _only_ line of defense against villainy."

Usually, this would be the time for Lucy to laugh at her husband's snarkiness, but she just didn't feel like laughing right now. Things were on her mind, and Gru could tell what those things were.

"I'm not mad at him anymore," said Lucy despondently.

"Aren't you?" asked Gru. "I mean, he did…"

"Yes, I know…" interrupted Lucy.

Gru noticed by now that his wife had her school yearbook and was once again looking at the pictures of herself and Devan when they were kids.

"…but life is too short to hold grudges against people you care about," sighed Lucy.

She looked so sad when she saw herself and the young super on that yearbook. And that was understandable, since Devan meant a lot to her growing up. But Gru didn't want to see his wife sad, so he told her what he knew she wanted to hear.

"Maybe now he and I can finally start over and become friends," consoled Gru.

It seemed to cheer her up a bit, as Lucy looked at her husband with a reassured smile.

"That's all I ever wanted out of this," said Lucy.

"After all," added Gru, "his son has really gotten along with the girls."

* * *

And Gru couldn't have been more correct. As the parents spoke, Alex and the girls were playing superheroes again, picking up from where they left off before Agnes' injury. As Devoted Devan, Agnes ran down the halls at a slower pace than before, having learned her lesson from the injury. Eventually, she found herself standing in front of her enemy's lair (read: the girls' bedroom), and was about to go in before Margo stopped her.

"No, Devoted Devan!" warned Margo playfully, "don't go in there! It could be a trap!"

"But I have to save my son from the evil ninja!" insisted Agnes, with an amount of seriousness in her voice that makes it hard not to find adorable.

"Just be careful!" her older sister warned, trying desperately not to laugh.

Margo amusedly watched as her younger sister "barged" into the room, and was greeted by the sight of Edith in her ninja costume, sitting on a rotating chair facing away from the door. She was holding a less-than-amused Kyle and petting the dog (for lack of a better word) as if she were a James Bond villain. Next to her was Alex—as himself—with his hands behind his back, giving the illusion that he was "tied up".

Margo couldn't resist the urge to peep down the doorway to watch the "action". This was all so precious.

"Welcome, Devoted Devan," said Edith in her best evil voice as she turned her chair around to face Agnes.

"Release my son!" demanded Agnes.

"Never!" retorted Edith. "Your son will sing for me, and only me!"

"Help me, dad!" called Alex playfully, having just as much fun with the game as the girls.

"You can't defeat me!" boasted Edith. "The gods would never allow you to inflict violence on me!"

By "the gods", she meant Gru and Lucy. Inflicting violence is an obvious no-no in their game, and this was their way around that rule.

"She's right!" growled Agnes. "What am I gonna do?"

Suddenly, Margo leaped into action with a giant textbook titled "Math".

"Devan!" called Margo. "Use this! It's the only way to stop the evil ninja!"

Agnes grabbed the textbook and held it against Edith. She pretended to flinch in pain at the sight of the textbook.

"AGH!" screamed Edith. "MATH HOMEWORK! MY ONE WEAKNESS!"

Edith continued to make screams, grunts, and groans as she was being "weakened" by the math textbook, while Agnes rushes over to Alex and "unties" him. Kyle, meanwhile, yelped and ran out of the room and quickly as he could.

Apparently, the math homework was too much for even the…"dog" to endure.

"Thank you, dad!" said Alex as Edith laid defeated on the floor.

"You're safe now, my son!" said Agnes playfully. "Now you can marry Margo!"

Upon hearing this, Edith immediately broke character and got up to express her disgust while Margo entered the room.

"Eww!" exclaimed Edith. "Who said anything about a wedding?!"

Everyone had a good laugh at their game. They had so much fun.

"I did it, Margo!" proclaimed Agnes. "I defeated the evil ninja!"

"You sure did, Agnes," chuckled an amused Margo.

"Yeah, well, you watch your back next time," threatened Edith playfully.

Alex stepped forward to accompany he the girls in his usual shy way, and they all got closer to him to surround him. True to Gru's words, it was clear that they've grown attached to him in the week or two they've interacted.

"Well, I'm glad my dad is still an inspiration for you girls after…you know…" he said.

"Oh, we're past that, Alex," assured Margo.

"How can you stay mad at an awesome superhero?" said Edith.

By the sad look on Agnes' face, Alex could tell she was still thinking about Devoted Devan's retirement—the _real_ Devoted Devan, of course.

"Is Devoted Devan still retired?" she asked sincerely.

Alex could not bring himself to lie to a six-year-old girl, and gently told her the truth.

"Unfortunately, yes," he said sympathetically. "My mom and I tried to talk him back into the superhero business, but we haven't gotten anywhere."

"He really is hard on himself, isn't he?" asked Margo.

"Mmm-hmm," was all Alex could say to this while drowning himself in his own guilt-inducing thoughts.

"Will Devoted Devan ever be a superhero again?" asked Agnes.

This broke the anxious teenager's heart. Agnes was clearly a big supporter of his father (if you couldn't tell from the superhero costume she was wearing right now), and as previously stated, he felt partially responsible for his superdad's retirement. He didn't tell the girls the awful things he said at the risk of worrying them further. But what should he tell them? They were still going to be disappointed either way.

"Agnes…" he said, while looking at Agnes.

"Margo…" he said, while looking at his girlfriend.

Alex looked at Edith, who gave him a hopeful smile. She couldn't wait to hear her name from him.

"Sweetheart…" said Alex.

This got Edith to frown back at Alex. How dare he not remember her name!

"I don't know what the future holds for my dad's superhero adventures," continued Alex. "I'm honestly worried that this is the end of Devoted Devan."

"That's stupid!" moaned Edith with frustration.

"I know…" whispered Alex.

"He feels bad because he didn't take action," said Margo in her usual snarky way. "He'll fix it by not taking action."

This got a laugh out from Alex. He loved it when his girlfriend got sassy.

"That's what I said!" agreed the laughing teenager.

"Well, what's he going to do about a job if he's not a superhero anymore?" asked Edith, not sounding angry anymore, just worried.

"I really don't know…" replied Alex, feeling uneasy again.

This feeling of uneasiness faded as soon as Lucy entered the bedroom to check up on the girls.

"Oh, hi, Mrs. Gru," greeted Alex, his ladykiller instincts arising once again.

"You know, Alex," said Lucy, "we've enjoyed having you around a lot lately. You're more than welcome to stay for dinner tonight."

Alex gasped in delight at the sound of this. To him, this was the greatest honor that could be bestowed upon him. He felt like he was knighted by a legit queen.

"For real?" asked the overwhelmed teenager.

"You know it," confirmed Lucy.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" exclaimed Alex.

"Did you have to tell dad not to poison him?" asked Margo in her usual deadpan manner.

"Yes, I did," replied Lucy, mirroring her daughter's deadpan manner.

"This is so great!" cheered an overjoyed Alex, pretending not to hear the poison detail. "Dinner with the Grus—and my sweet Mar-Mar."

Alex and Margo took each other by the hands and gazed into their eyes lovingly.

"I'm looking forward to it, Alley," said Margo sweetly, before they shared a brief kiss on the lips.

"Gross," exclaimed a disgusted Edith, "they're giving each other pet names! Someone end me!"

This earned an angry glare from Margo at her younger sister for ruining the moment.

"What?" Edith asked defensively.

* * *

Hypno-Joe thought that the regular prison was bad, but the prison at the Anti-Villain League was _much_ worse. The cell was colder this time around, the bed was even less comfortable, everyone had to be quiet in their cells, there was no window to the outside world, and the bars were made of _lasers_ instead of metal. Said lasers didn't look like they could disintegrate human flesh, but you still wouldn't want to touch them.

But all of these things were nothing compared to the betrayal that the miserable supervillain was feeling right now. Gru had gone soft, simply put. He had lied to, overpowered, and sold out someone who looked up to and wanted to be like him. The man had the whole world at his fingertips, and not only did he throw it all away for love, but said love was an agent of this very prison. How was the perfect world going to happen now?

The more Hypno-Joe thought about it, the angrier it made him. And he was angrier still the longer he stared at that picture of himself and Gru from many years ago. To think that this was the same person who had taught him everything he knew about villainy.

_There is nothing you can't steal if you put your black heart to it!_

Those words mean nothing to him now. He was never going to look at Gru the same way again. Not after what he did.

"How could you do this to me, Gru?" asked Hypno-Joe in his best whisper voice. "I based my entire life on your teachings, and this is how you repay me."

He could no longer bear to look at the picture of himself and Gru at such a young age. He tore up the picture piece by piece until it was nothing but particles. He didn't want to think about Gru anymore.

And yet…he just couldn't _stop_ thinking about him. His successful heists were a huge inspiration for Hypno-Joe's life, even after Gru was done with it. It was a love/hate relationship at its absolute best.

Don't think for a minute that Hypno-Joe has given up on his perfect world. He was already thinking of ways to break out of prison, like he has countless times before, and somehow convince Gru that he was always meant to be a villain, whether he liked it or not.

"You can't escape your destiny, Gru," muttered Hypno-Joe, "especially now that the world's greatest superhero is gone."

Yes, word had gotten to the incarcerated supervillain that Devoted Devan has retired as well. Remembering this news made Hypno-Joe happy again. Not only did he enjoy how depressed Devan must have been feeling, but the superhero's retirement meant one less person to interfere with his plans to force Gru back into villainy.

Now, how he was going to do that he wasn't quite sure yet. But he considered his options and looked at the facts. He knew that Gru and his wife were both agents of the AVL. He knew that it was standard protocol for AVL agents to receive mental protection from mind-controlling supervillains such as himself. So, there goes the idea of just hypnotizing Gru back into villainy.

He also knew that married couples tend to have children. And if this particular couple had children, then Hypno-Joe could kidnap them, torture them, or even threaten to kill them unless Gru embraced villainy again, like any supervillain would do.

But Hypno-Joe wasn't one to jump to conclusions. There was no indication that this married couple in particular had children.

Or was there?

Only now was Hypno-Joe recalling how different Gru's house looked since the last time he had been there. The front lawn was much greener, the house was heavily redecorated inside and out, and dangerous hazards like the iron maiden were gone. It did seem peculiar to Hypno-Joe, but he was simply too excited to see Gru to really take these details into account at the time.

Why would Gru make his home safer and…kid-friendly? The answer was obvious: he _had_ kids! And having kids meant they could be held hostage behind a set of demands. If Gru was trying to protect his children's existence from the evil Hypno-Joe, he did not do a good job.

But then he had a better idea.

Gru clearly didn't want to be a villain anymore. And while that was aggravating, it was _somewhat_ understandable that he was misguided by love. And even if his kids were held hostage behind a set of demands, Gru could always find a loophole or two, or otherwise find a way to save the kids, if he was daring enough.

There was only one solution to this problem.

"Well," chuckled Hypno-Joe, "if you won't carry on the family tradition…then your children will."

That's right. He knew about Gru's family tradition. How he came from a long line of the worst human beings. Which made his hero revelation all the more painful for the scheming supervillain.

But the evidence leading to _children_ changed things. Although Gru won't admit it, his children were technically heirs to this tradition. It didn't matter how nice Gru was raising them to be, because villainy has been in his blood for many, many years. Longer than that, actually.

And the tradition would go on for even longer if Hypno-Joe had anything to say about it.

But first things first; he had to get out of AVL prison before he did anything. Which he had a feeling would be easy, given his experience in breaking out.

Sure enough, he heard the bellowing of nobody's favorite AVL director, Valerie Da Vinci. She didn't look like she was in a good mood, as if that were shocking.

"Hey, dirtbag!" she screamed. "Lights out! It's time for bed!"

This was perfect. As previously stated, agents of the AVL were given mental protection from hypnosis, but Hypno-Joe found it hard to believe that that protection would apply to their director. You may think it's a ridiculous oversight, but there was a loophole for everything.

Now was his chance to put the head of the AVL under his spell. They may have confiscated his pocket watch, but if the Big Book of Hypnotism taught him anything, it was that there were plenty of other methods for hypnosis.

And unfortunately(?), the mesmerizing villain was already on his way to Valerie's head. By the time she was facing his general direction, she was already starting to lose herself in Hypno-Joe's eyes as he stared at her through the laser bars, just like he knew she would.

"Valerie Da Vinci," soothed Hypno-Joe, "look deeply into my eyes."

There was no way Valerie could look away from his eyes. She was completely losing herself in them with every second she was staring into them.

"They will make you forget everything," he continued hypnotically. "Forget all of the crimes I committed. Hypno-Joe could never do no harm. And now, follow your instincts. You know you really want to allow yourself to release me."

And that's exactly what she did. With a simple press of a button, the laser bars were no more, and Hypno-Joe was free to go. He didn't even have to worry about AVL prison guards trying to stop him as he walked to freedom, because Valerie would vouch for him and tell them to lay off. And considering her dominance, they would have no choice but to listen. She was truly under his thumb.

And if getting into the mind of the AVL's lead director was this easy…

…then there was no hope for the Gru children.


	17. Girls Gone Bad

**Chapter 17:**

**Girls Gone Bad**

Putting the girls to bed was Gru's favorite time of day, on account of how adorable they were whenever they fell asleep. And after a long day of chores and bonding with Alex, they needed a good night's sleep. It was a shame their pets couldn't accompany them tonight, but Kyle and Lucky needed to resolve the dispute that was going on between them before they could be allowed to sleep next to Agnes again. They wouldn't get in the way of their pets' roughhousing if Papa Gru could help it.

While Lucy stood by the doorway to watch with a warm smile, the father of three gave his little kittens a kiss goodnight one by one, starting with Edith.

"Goodnight, Edith, my little ninja," he soothed.

"Can you believe Agnes defeated me?" asked Edith tiredly.

"You'll get her next time," soothed Gru.

"Hey!" whined Agnes.

To show his youngest daughter that he didn't play favorites, Gru walked over to Agnes and kissed her goodnight next.

"Goodnight, Agnes," soothed Gru. "Stay as sweet as you are."

"I'm glad Devoted Devan doesn't hate you anymore," Agnes said tiredly as she slowly fell asleep.

Gru smiled warmly at this. The way she expressed her joy at her father and Devan's feud coming to an end made it seem like she was doing exactly what her father told her to-stay sweet as she was. Hopefully Devan will go back to being a superhero with this knowledge.

There was one more girl to kiss goodnight.

"Goodnight, Margo," he said. "Dream horrible nightmares about Alex."

"I'll always remember that amazing sacrifice you made for me," said Margo tiredly as she fell asleep.

With goodnight kisses finished, Gru and Lucy quietly walked out of the room, turned off the lights, shut the door, and let the girls sleep. They were closing the door at a very slow pace, due to enjoying every second of those three little kittens dreaming sweet dreams.

* * *

When burglars break into peoples' houses, they usually prefer to strike at night. This is because the black clothes and masks that they wear make them harder to see in the dark. Hypno-Joe was already a black-clad supervillain, so he had a feeling he would blend into the darkness perfectly. He hid behind a car that was parked near the Gru household, waiting patiently for all of the lights to go out, and for everyone to fall asleep. He wouldn't want his break-in to alert these highly-trained spy parents. And if he played his cards right, he wouldn't have to.

The little something-something he brought along with him for this journey should pick the lock on the door without waking anyone inside. In fact, he brought everything he needed for Operation: Continue Gru's Legacy, and they were all stored in his top hat. They're not just for pulling rabbits out of anymore. In addition to being an infamous supercriminal who learned everything there was to know from the Big Book of Hypnotism, Hypno-Joe is a man who prepares. What, you think he would break into Gru's house empty-handed?

The lights were turned off, but Hypno-Joe wanted to wait a little longer for everyone to fall asleep before he could put his plan into action. As he waited, he thought about what great villains Gru's heirs would be when he was finished with them. He hadn't met them yet, but he was sure they were gosh-darned cute.

Figuring he waited long enough, Hypno-Joe got out of his hiding spot, crept toward Gru's house, and began to pick the lock on the door. Since he had the process down in all his years of villainy, it wasn't long before he was in. Carefully, he opened the door so as not to awaken anyone with any loud squeaking noises, and did the same when closing the door.

It was quite dark in Gru's house at this time of night, making it a bit hard for Hypno-Joe to see. But he's been in the house enough times to at least have a good idea of where he was going. He didn't need no stinking flashlight for this job.

If he wanted to find the children, he must think like a child. Where would Gru logically let his heirs sleep? Obviously someplace nice, since Gru was making an honest effort to be a good father to them. Therefore, a cold basement or torture chamber were out of the question. He thought about this further and, from his basic understanding, most houses with at least two stories have the child's bedroom at the second floor.

That was a good place to start.

* * *

After some careful navigation both not to wake anyone up and to watch where he was going in the dark, the villain climbed the winding stairs, and found himself at the second floor of the house. Before him was a hallway with a fair number of doors. But which door led to the place he was looking for? He thought back to his times visiting Gru's house, and made a mental reminder to himself which doors he was familiar with. He knew one door led to Gru's bedroom, and another one led to the bathroom.

But then he saw another door that piqued his interest. It was the door to an old storage room that Gru almost never used the last time he was there. A storage room that was meant for famous paintings that he stole a long time ago, as well as old weaponry and gadgets that probably don't work anymore. Primarily shown in that room, Hypno-Joe remembered, were three bombs that were too old to be useful. A shame too, because they were a decent size. You could almost fit a child in there.

Then it suddenly hit Hypno-Joe.

If the bombs were hollowed out and removed of their explosive capabilities, they could make decent beds. Could this storage room contain what Hypno-Joe was looking for? Was this the bedroom of Gru's heirs?

Well, Hypno-Joe wasn't going to make the perfect world standing around. He quietly opened the door, stepped into the room….

…and there they were. The very heirs that Hypno-Joe had been looking for. The little Grus that would carry on their father's legacy. All girls. They were all just as adorable as he hoped they were, especially when they were asleep.

Those very same bombs that took up most of what was once the storage room were now used for their beds. And given how they too have been heavily redecorated, it's safe to assume Gru had modified them not to blow up on them. That's just like the new Gru that Hypno-Joe didn't like.

Then again, it was good that the bombs didn't blow them up, because now they can do what Hypno-Joe came here to have them do. They were probably dreaming sweet dreams without care. But soon, they would be dreaming about villainy. And what better time to convert them to villainy than while they were asleep, when they were the most vulnerable to suggestion?

Without wasting anymore time, Hypno-Joe reached into his top hat and got out…three earpieces. Then, he placed one earpiece onto each girl's ear. He started with Agnes, whose ear was the easiest to put the earpiece into. Then he moved onto Margo, who seemed the happiest in her sleep.

"Oh, Alex…" she muttered.

Ignoring this, Hypno-Joe put the earpiece into Margo's ear. Last was Edith, who seemed to be kicking air in her sleep. The villain managed to avoid accidentally being kicked in the face when he put the last earpiece into Edith's ear.

With all three earpieces attached to the girls, Hypno-Joe quickly reached into his top hat again, and this time got out a microphone, and began to speak into it to communicate with the girls in their dreams.

Operation: Continue Gru's Legacy was a go.

"Listen to me, girls," soothed Hypno-Joe. "Listen to the sound of my voice. Obey my voice. You will open your eyes, but you will not wake up."

The hauntingly calm sound of Hypno-Joe's voice was enough to compel the girls to obey. They opened their eyes, but remained asleep.

The hypnotism was working.

"Front and center," commanded Hypno-Joe.

Obediently, the girls got out of their beds, slowly walked to the center of the room, and stood at attention in a line, ready to receive further instructions from Hypno-Joe. They were like soldiers.

Pleased to have full control of the girls' minds, the villain began issuing hypnotic commands.

"Girls," instructed Hypno-Joe as he continued to speak into the microphone, "your father is confused about who he is right now, and your uncle is currently in the Anti-Villain League Prison. There is now no one left to carry on the family tradition. That is where you come in. I think it would be wonderful if all three of you girls were just like Gru and took on his supervillainy. And that is just what you are going to do. When I snap my fingers, you will become supervillains just like your father, and you will be just as bad as…no, you will be _worse_ than the villain he was. Your minds will always be focused on committing the biggest crimes you can ever think of. For you girls, evil and destruction come first, and good citizenship comes nine trillionth. There will never be a villain like you. Who knows? Your schemes might even inspire your father to go back into villainy himself."

Throughout the entire session (for lack of a better word), the mesmerized girls were motionless, having no choice but to listen to their hypnotic overlord's horrible instructions with wide eyes and mouths hanging ajar.

These girls, who Gru and Lucy were raising to be good, were now being told that they were going to cause evil and destruction to the world. If they weren't being hypnotized right now, they would refuse, and likely run to tell their parents. But because they were, they made no protests, and would gladly be villains if that was what the compelling voice wanted them to do. The worst part was that there was no one to snap them out of it. Their parents were still asleep, and even if they woke up by now and found their daughters like this, what would they be able to do to snap them out of it?

Hypno-Joe, naturally, was enjoying every second of the Gru children falling under his spell so easily. And the best part was that despite their mouths hanging ajar throughout the whole session, no drool has escaped their mouths. The neat freak side of Hypno-Joe was very relieved by this.

"Now," said Hypno-Joe, the desire to wrap things up before the parents woke up sweeping over him, "let us review. What are you going to do when I snap my fingers?"

"We will be supervillains," replied the girls in a trancelike tone.

Their zombielike reply had filled Hypno-Joe will more excitement than he ever felt in his life, and their droning in unison wasn't quite loud enough to wake their parents, so he had more time.

"What will you be doing as supervillains?" asked Hypno-Joe.

"Committing the biggest crimes we can think of," droned the girls.

"And what are you carrying on?" asked Hypno-Joe.

"The Gru family tradition," droned the girls.

Well, that was that. The girls were ready for their new lives as supervillains. All that was left was for Hypno-Joe to snap his fingers, and good girls would go bad.

"Alright, girls," soothed the villain, his fingers in position to snap, "your life of crime begins."

**SNAP!**

The sound of Hypno-Joe snapping his fingers had awoken the girls from their trances, and caused them to look at each other. As the villain quickly hid behind the bedroom door before they could see him, the girls' looks at each other had shifted to evil smiles.

The hypnosis worked.

"So," said Margo in an unusually sinister tone, "what act of unspeakable evil do you guys want to do tonight?"

"Well, first," said Edith, "let's get out of these yucky pajamas and change into something more suitable."

"Ooooh," said Agnes in her usual excitable way, "can we go rob the clothes shop I saw downtown?!"

For all that may change, some things may stay the same.

"We're supervillains, Agnes," deadpanned Edith. "We don't need to ask permission to do things."

"Oh yeah, that's right," said Agnes.

"Come on, guys," said Margo. "Let's show the world what the Gru legacy can do!"

And with that, the girls all rushed out of their bedrooms and headed downstairs.

Hypno-Joe smugly watched as the girls descended down the stairs to pursue their newfound passion for evil. He felt like he outdid himself this time. Gru's legacy of villainy would live on forever, and he would have the great Hypno-Joe to thank for it.

He could have simply persuaded them to help him make the perfect world then and there, but he dared not spoil the girls' fun in villainy just yet.

And he was about to make sure their parents don't either. He was going to distract them for a little bit.

No doubt the girls were on their way to the lab to suit up for their life of crime. If Hypno-Joe knew a thing about how Gru's lab works (and from what he remembered from his time spent at Gru's, he did), activating the entrance to it would cause a loud enough noise to wake the parents, and potentially the whole neighborhood. So, he had to act fast.

In the girls' bedroom was a decently-sized table full of paper and colored markers. Quickly, Hypno-Joe took one of the pieces of paper and used one of the markers to write something on it. Once he was finished, he left his message on the floor, took a few steps back, turned on the lights, took out a pebble from his top hat, and threw it at the window, causing a direct hit and making a really loud crashing sound. This was sure to wake them up, and Hypno-Joe was counting on that.

"What was that?!" came a Russian voice that Hypno-Joe barely heard in his getaway.

After getting out of the hallway as fast as he could, Gru and Lucy rushed to where they thought they heard the crash, just missing Hypno-Joe. But they did see the lights on in their daughters' bedroom, and assumed the worst. Their parental instincts kicked in and they entered the bedroom to check on their sweethearts.

"Girls, are you okay?!" asked Lucy.

It was then that the two AVL agents noticed the broken window, as well as the message Hypno-Joe left. Lucy picks it up and reads it aloud, growing increasingly more distressed as she did so.

"_I have your daughters. Follow instructions, and they will not be harmed."_

This was met with a horrified gasp from the ex-villain, followed by a look of terror that his wife mirrored.

"No!" he exclaimed.

It was every parent's worst nightmare. Someone had taken their little kittens and were making demands for their return. What choice did they have but to follow these demands?

* * *

Margo, Edith, and Agnes emerge from the clothes shop in different clothes after having kicked the glass door open. They now looked completely different than they did before, figuring they should look their best before doing their worst to this world.

Agnes' yellow shirt has been changed to a purple shirt, her blue overalls were now black, and her hair was messier. She had been told that she looked like a Minion, so now she went for a resemblance to the Minions that were mutated from PX-41.

Edith had the same ninja costume she's always had on, but gone was her pink beanie. It was instead replaced with a black hood. In addition, whereas she was only allowed a toy katana before for safety reasons, now she was armed with a real one, capable of slashing and killing. In essence, she was now an evil ninja for real.

Margo was now wearing a leather jacket that made her look a dangerous biker, and her skirt has been replaced with jeans that were slightly torn. Worst of all, the Mario head on her shirt has been changed to Bowser's head instead.

Just as the girls were relishing in their new looks, a police car is fast approaching the clothes shop with its sirens blaring having no doubt been notified about their break-in. They were a little annoyed that they might have tripped the alarm, but they came prepared.

Smugly, all three girls get out their own freeze ray, and fired them at the police car, freezing it completely solid. They laughed. And that was only the beginning of their cruelty.

* * *

The rest of the night had been nothing but destruction and chaos as the girls wreaked havoc downtown, starting with taking on the police. Several police cars were chasing Agnes, but she was easily outrunning them while she was riding a rocket-powered tricycle—the very same one that the Minions made for her a while back. Edith, meanwhile, was easily fighting off several police officers surrounding her with her ninja moves. They were no match for the evil ninja. As for Margo, she was doing some good old-fashioned bank robbery, stuffing large amounts of money from a giant vault into a huge sack. When she was apprehended by the police, she simply got out the freeze ray and blasted the officers with it, freezing them solid, all without even looking at them.

After that, the girls decided to work out at the gym for future crimes. Agnes was riding on an exercise bike, Edith was pounding on a punching bag, and Margo was lifting weights. They didn't have to worry about paying for anything, because that's not what supervillains do.

After a great workout, the girls resume their crime spree. They used giant hammers to smash various cars parked throughout the city streets, used graffiti to spray "Beware the Gru Legacy" tags throughout the alleys, and hijacked cars for joyrides.

Their actions have resulted in the city being completely ruined, with police sirens, people screaming in fear, and things on fire—and they loved every minute of it. They were currently standing on top of a building—the same one Gru almost fell to his death from earlier—to observe their work.

"I think we got our message across," said Margo in a sinister tone.

"Yeah," agreed Edith, "the Gru legacy is not to be messed with!"

"We're the greatest villains of all time!" cheered Agnes.

"Indeed, you are," came a soothing voice.

The girls turned around to see Hypno-Joe standing behind them.

"You're a friend of our dad's, correct?" asked Margo.

The hypnotic supervillain was a bit annoyed and suspicious that the girls weren't as thankful to him for introducing them to the villain life that he hoped, but he nodded his head to tell her that yes, he was a friend of Gru's.

"And I happen to know where he's going," Hypno-Joe said. "How would you girls like to show ol' Papa Gru the progress you have made?"

The girls gave each other meaningful looks. They did want to show Gru their progress, and decided to trust this man who claims to know where he was.

None of them can wait to see the looks on Gru and Lucy's faces when they see their daughters as villains.


	18. Girls Gone Worse

**Trigger Warning:**** Just like in Chapter 13, t****here is bleeding in this chapter. Read with caution if you are sensitive to reading about mentions of bleeding.**

* * *

**Chapter 18:**

**Girls Gone Worse**

Gru and Lucy were officially having the worst night ever. Their adorable daughters have been taken by an unknown kidnapper who was making demands for their freedom. The message that was left in the bedroom told them to meet this person at a very specific location—unarmed—and to arrive with an extremely large sum of money within a certain amount of time. For a remote chance of seeing the girls alive, the AVL agents couldn't risk sneaking weapons for defense.

As they stood at the edge of the cliff carrying the huge sack of money and waiting for the kidnapper, the two anxious parents hoped with all their hearts and souls that their sweethearts were okay. It seemed like every adventure they had as a family, the girls would get into danger, whether it was getting kidnapped by Vector, almost eaten by a Minion mutated by PX-41, kidnapped _again_ by Balthazar Bratt, and now this. It made them feel like lousy parents for letting this happen so many times. But just as they were drowning themselves in these horrible thoughts, they heard a very familiar sinister laugh.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh…"

Hypno-Joe.

They turned around to see him standing there with the usual smug look that you just want to punch in the face. No doubt he was the one who took the girls and wrote the message.

"You're right on time," said Hypno-Joe tauntingly.

They were NOT in the mood for formal greetings and wanted to cut right to the chase.

"Okay, Hypno-Joe," said a panicking, distressed Gru, "we have your stupid ransom money, we arrived on the dot, and we came unarmed. Now, give back our daughters!"

"Oh, Gru," said Hypno-Joe in that same dark chuckle that Gru was getting tired of hearing, "I don't want your money. I just want you to see what great villains your daughters turned out to be!"

Gru and Lucy immediately recoiled in horror as soon as those words left Hypno-Joe's mouth. He was implying that he—a villain who learned everything from the Big Book of Hypnotism—took control of the girls and made them do something _really_ bad. And since they witnessed a lot of devastation on their way to the cliff, it wasn't hard to put two and two together.

"No!" exclaimed Lucy. "You didn't!"

Hypno-Joe directs the couple's attention to the "Beware the Gru Legacy" graffiti tag that was on the side of an empty car that was parked at the cliff, doing so with a smug look that clearly told them that yes, he did. The tag contained a graffiti drawing of the girls posing menacingly with crossed arms and evil smiles, as if they were hoodlums, or gangsters, or…supervillains! The very sight of this tag filled the parents with dread.

At that moment, all three heard the sounds of rocket engines coming from the sky. The all look up and see Margo, Edith, and Agnes in their new looks, travelling the skies while wearing rockets on their shoes. No doubt they were taken from the lab. Feeling the need for a dramatic entrance, the girls landed in front of their portrayals on the graffiti tag that was on the car. Agnes landed first, then Edith, then Margo. And all of them copied the very menacing pose that was on the tag—crossed arms with evil smiles—for their parents.

Gru and Lucy couldn't believe their eyes. They were so shocked to see their daughters like this that they dropped the bag of money with a loud gasp. These were no longer those three little kittens that changed one big unicorn's heart. They were criminals responsible for the citywide destruction you couldn't miss. All thanks to that stupid Hypno-Joe.

"NOOOOOO, GOD!" screamed Gru in terror. "NO, GOD, PLEASE, NO!"

Memories of past events came flooding back to Gru. This reminded him of the time El Macho used PX-41 to mutate the Minions and turn them into savage monsters that would eat anything. People that Gru cared about were turned evil by a master criminal, and here he was again, only now with his daughters—which was ten times worse, since they were his family, not his employees. Agnes even kind of looks like a Mutated Minion now, which wasn't helping Papa Gru's awful flashbacks.

But as hard as this was for Gru to swallow, Lucy was close to tears seeing her daughters as Hypno-Joe's puppets. She was trying her best to keep herself together, but she couldn't stop a few tears from shedding.

"Oh, girls," she sobbed, "what has he done to you?"

"What do you mean, 'what has he done to us?'" asked Edith mockingly, obviously with no memory of being hypnotized.

"We're just keeping the family tradition alive!" insisted Agnes.

After that, Margo got out a strange device and pointed it at the dropped bag of money. Again, it must have been taken from the lab. It unleashed a claw that grabbed the bag, and gently placed it next to where the girls were standing. The parents were simply too shocked, horrified, and/or saddened to react in time.

"Aww, how sweet of them to bring us some money," commented Margo.

Now Hypno-Joe has crossed a line. Gru and Lucy had never been angrier with a villain than they are right now. Hypnotizing their daughters into thinking they were villains was a new low, even for him. And all to carry on the miserable life of crime that Gru was wanting to leave behind.

The furious ex-villain was ready to approach Hypno-Joe and pound him into dust for his crimes.

"I will break every bone in your…" he was about to say, before Hypno-Joe pulled out a gun and pointed it at Gru, forcing him to step back.

"Personal space, please," said Hypno-Joe in a tone that let his broken pedestal know that he can and will shoot.

Gru felt stupid for forgetting that Hypno-Joe was known to carry a gun.

"You don't approve?" asked Margo, even though it was obvious what the answer was.

"Yeah," added Edith, "villainy is our family tradition!"

"You are not villains!" screamed Gru at what was once his sweet daughters. "Hypno-Joe just made you _think_ you're villains! _Hypno_-Joe?! Hello?!"

"Well, who am I to tell them that they're wrong?" taunted Hypno-Joe, still pointing his gun at his broken pedestal.

This only succeeded in angering Gru even more, as the ex-villain now felt brave enough to lay into Hypno-Joe regardless of the gun pointed at him. Fortunately, Gru's anger directed towards Hypno-Joe was enough to intimidate him into lowering his weapon.

"And you!" growled Gru. "Where do you get off warping the minds of three little girls?"

Hypno-Joe had to admit, it was scary seeing Gru this angry. He even felt compelled to back away from the AVL agent a bit, despite being in possession of a loaded gun.

"Oh Gru, you're being…" Hypno-Joe was about to say.

Gru wasn't having it as he was backing the villain to the edge of the cliff.

"What?!" he asked. "What am I being?! A hero?! Protective of my children?! Fed up with you?! Mostly, I'm fed up with you! Get this through your thick skull: I am done with villainy forever, I will never go back to it, my job as an AVL agent is legitimate, Lucy married me of her own volition, and I am raising my daughters to be good girls! I will not let them carry on my villainy! Not now, not in a few years, not when the Shrek reboot comes out, _never_! Nothing you ever say or do will convince me to go back into villainy! And you are going to change my daughters back right now, so I can raise them to be good girls, and not evil girls!"

There was a long pause as Hypno-Joe let his broken pedestal's words sink in. He was clearly serious about leaving his past behind. As Lucy witnessed, she didn't know what Hypno-Joe was going to do. She hoped he would give up now and undo the spell he put on the girls, but she knew him better than that.

"Very well, Gru," said Hypno-Joe with a long, melancholic sigh. "It's clear now. You will never go back to villainy."

Gru kept up his hardline stance in the hopes of intimidating Hypno-Joe into doing the right thing and waking up the girls. But these hopes immediately fade away when the villain again points his gun at Gru, proving Lucy's bad premonitions undeniably correct.

"Which is why you and your wife have to die," said Hypno-Joe. "The perfect world will now be ruled by only me and your daughters."

But before he could pull the trigger, he suddenly felt himself being pushed off the cliff—and not by Gru or Lucy. He lost his balance and fell off, but caught a ledge below the cliff and was now hanging on for dear life.

The two agents look, and see that the one who pushed Hypno-Joe off the cliff was…the girls. Once again, the parents were shocked.

"I don't think so," said Margo sinisterly.

Before Gru or Lucy could react, the girls used their rocket shoes to fly down to the ledge where Hypno-Joe was hanging, while the parents could only watch with horror as it looked like they were about to throw the villain into the ocean. They were confused, since they would think that if you were hypnotized, you would be obeying the hypnotizer, instead of trying to kill them. They couldn't reach the girls to stop them, but they got a perfect view of what they were doing to Hypno-Joe, and saw the fear in his eyes.

"Wh…what is this?!" screamed Hypno-Joe in fear.

Hypno-Joe was about to pull himself back up, but Margo stepped on his foot, preventing him from doing so.

"OWWW!" screamed Hypno-Joe in pain.

"This town isn't big enough for _four_ supervillains," said Agnes coldly.

She poked Hypno-Joe in the eye—hard.

"OWWW!" screamed Hypno-Joe again.

"Why would we ever want to share this world with you?" asked Edith coldly.

Slowly, she used her katana to cut Hypno-Joe across his cheek, leaving a huge gash of blood. All while ignoring Hypno-Joe's crying in pain.

"You can't treat the evil Hypno-Joe like this!" yelled Hypno-Joe. "I made you what you are!"

But the girls did not listen. It was doubtful that they would even care, since they didn't remember being hypnotized. It was then that Hypno-Joe realized the terrible truth.

"Oh no," he thought out loud, "I forgot to make you obedient to me!"

"We're obedient to no one," said Edith coldly.

"This world is only for the Gru legacy to rule!" boasted Agnes.

The helpless villain had never been scared in his life. He was about to die, all because he spent so much time and energy turning the Gru children into villains that he forgot to make them obedient to him.

There will be no perfect world.

"Hypno-Joe may end tonight," he said softly in what he was sure were his final moments, "but your parents have their work cut out for them."

"We're not denying that," said Margo. "Farewell, Hypno-Joe."

With that, Margo took her foot off of Hypno-Joe's hand, and together, all three girls delivered a collective punch to his face, sending him tumbling down the cliff, enjoying him screaming as he fell down the ravine. He hit almost all of his body parts on various rocks as he fell down the cliff, culminating in a big splash and disappeared into the water below. Because of this, his survival was unlikely.

Hypno-Joe, it appears, is dead.

Gru and Lucy thought they were going to faint when they witnessed this. Those three little kittens…were murderers. Brainwashed, unwitting murderers…but murderers nonetheless. By the time their murderous daughters flew back up to the top of the cliff to confront them, they couldn't stop shaking.

"Did you…_kill_ Hypno-Joe?" asked a trembling Lucy.

"What does it look like, Einstein?" asked Edith in her usual bratty way.

At least the hypnotism didn't take away her cocky attitude. Wait…is that a good thing?

The parents wanted so badly to stop the girls from creating anymore havoc, but they remembered that they arrived at the cliff unarmed. Even if they weren't, could they really use weapons on their own children, even if it was something harmless like sleeping gas?

The girls, on the other hand, had no qualms in using weapons on their parents in their current frame of mind. They pointed guns—real guns, not tranquilizer darts—at Gru and Lucy, and they put their hands up, not knowing what they were going to do.

"You're coming with us to the lab," demanded Margo.

* * *

And come with them to the lab Gru and Lucy did. All six of them walked back to the house, with the girls pointing guns at their parents all the way to make sure they don't get away or try anything. And after seeing what they did to Hypno-Joe, did they really have any choice?

Even once they finally reached the lab, Edith and Agnes still pointed their weapons at the anxious AVL agents, while Margo was typing something on the computer connected to the Quick Access Warp Zone. Dr. Nefario, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found. Was he working on lab stuff, or was he remaining out of sight from their currently-hostile daughters?

"Have you filled in your credentials yet, Margo?" asked Agnes.

"Almost," replied Margo.

"Well, hurry up," complained Edith. "My arm's getting tired!"

"Might I ask where you girls are planning to go with the Quick Access Warp Zone?" asked Lucy nervously.

Margo took a break from entering her credentials to tell her parents the plan.

"I'm glad you asked," she replied. "I've been doing a little searching on this computer, and it turns out there's a toxic waste dump we can warp to so we can get…"

"SUPERPOWERS!" cheered Agnes excitedly.

Gru and Lucy froze when they heard this. Their daughters were going to break into a toxic waste dump to gain superpowers?! What could possibly make them do something so reckless and dangerous?!

Oh right, the hypnosis.

"No," protested Gru, despite being held at gunpoint, "it's too dangerous! You could get sick, or…or…"

He dared not finish that sentence.

"It's worth the risk!" insisted Edith. "I mean, if Devoted Devan can get superpowers, why can't we? Imagine how much my ninja skills would improve…"

"I could gain superpowered shrieks," fantasized Agnes. "If you thought my screaming was loud now, just wait until later!"

"And I could gain psychic powers," fantasized Margo as she resumed her work on the computer. "Telekinesis, special vision…the possibilities are endless!"

"And once we have powers," continued Edith, "we're gonna take over the White House!"

"We all came up with great ideas for new laws!" finished Agnes.

Gru and Lucy could only watch as Margo was finishing up her credentials into the computer, and there was nothing they could do to stop her since they were still being held at gunpoint.

"Well, at least they're not fighting with each other as villains, am I right?" whispered Lucy to Gru.

"Alright," announced Margo, "my credentials are filled in. Next stop: the toxic waste dump!"

Gru and Lucy had to act fast. Those three little kittens were about to go into a toxic waste dump to endanger their own lives for the possibility of superpowers. It was as if they were all living in a cartoon world.

Oh, wait…

At long last, Gru had a plan. He mustered up all the courage he had, and began to sweet-talk his currently-evil daughters in the hopes that they would let their guard down.

"Oh, girls," he said, "look how much you've grown up."

This got the girls' attention. Edith and Agnes were even lowering their weapons. It was working.

"Look at you," continued Gru, "putting the city to ruins, killing another supervillain, and now planning to gain superpowers to take over the White House. I could never dream of accomplishing those things. I have never been prouder of you in my whole life."

"Aw…" cooed all three girls.

Almost there…

"Come here," invited Gru, "let me give you all a big hug before you get into that warp zone."

The girls dropped their weapons and got ready for a hug from their father…

…but before that hug could happen, Gru quickly got out his freeze ray and blasted them with it, trapping them in a block of ice. They were all huddled together when they got ready for it, so freezing them was easy. And that was the worst part.

"Sorry, girls," apologized Gru, "but it's for your own good. At least until we can find a cure."

It pains him and Lucy to admit it, but their wonderful daughters have become dangerous, and had to be kept in ice so they couldn't hurt anyone else or do anything reckless. This was obviously through no fault of their own, but there was no other option to keep them safe and others safe from them.

Overwhelmed by this horrible turn of events, Lucy fell to the floor and broke down in tears.

"This is a disaster!" she sobbed. "Our daughters think they're supervillains!"

This was the first time in their marriage where Lucy cried, and Gru hated every second of it. He gave her his shoulder to cry on, even though he was hurting as much as she was. He knew the girls longer than she did, after all.

* * *

Gru and Lucy couldn't sleep a wink that night. How can any parent sleep soundly after discovering their kids going bad, even if they weren't in control of their actions? As they sat on the living room couch the next morning wondering what they were going to do, they heard the doorbell ring. They answered it, and…

It was Alex, holding a bouquet of flowers. No guesses as to who they were for.

"Is my wonderful Mar-Mar home?" asked Alex sweetly.

Gru and Lucy looked at each other uneasily. Great. Now they had to tell Margo's boyfriend the unfortunate news.

"What's wrong?" asked the concerned teenager, knowing full well that the parents weren't looking so hot, like they haven't gotten any sleep.

* * *

"What?! My sweet Mar-Mar…is a _villain_ now?!"

Not only was Alex brought up to speed, but Gru and Lucy told _his_ parents about what happened too, as they all got together in the living room at the Preston house. How the evil Hypno-Joe transformed the much-loved Gru children into supervillains so that they could carry on the family tradition that Gru has ended a long time ago. Everyone was worried about the girls and wondered how they were going to snap them out of it.

They also told the Prestons about the girls' murder of Hypno-Joe in order to eliminate the competition, which was met with far less sympathy. After everything he did, he had it coming. It was good to know that the wouldn't bother them anymore. Still, the girls would likely feel guilty about taking a life when…_if_ they were brought back to normal.

"It's true, Alex," said Gru solemnly. "I'm sorry."

"And that's why we need your help to change them back to normal," said Lucy.

No guesses as to who she was talking to.

"Don't look at me," said Devan. "I'm not a superhero anymore. I only make everything worse."

"No, you don't," insisted Susan sympathetically.

"Look," said Gru, "you freed Susan from Hypno Joe's control once. How did you do it?"

"I punched her in the face," replied Devan.

"Yikes," said Gru as he and his wife cringed.

"Well, we absolutely will _not_ inflict violence on the girls," said Lucy with a good deal of seriousness in her voice, "but I'm sure there's another way to snap them out of it."

"And you're just the guy who can help us," encouraged Gru. "The great Devoted Devan."

But Devan was still not keen on returning to the superhero life due to his guilt, and cringed at the idea of taking action.

"I'm telling you," he said, "you're looking at the wrong guy. I'm the monster that put you in danger and refused to save you, for which I am deeply sorry."

"We've already forgiven you for that, Devan," said Lucy sympathetically. "In fact, before Hypno-Joe made them villains, the girls were playing superheroes."

Now Devan was intrigued. He recalled their superhero game the day he made his mistake, and the news that they were continuing said superhero game made him at least a little bit happier.

"Were they?" asked Devan.

"Yeah," replied Lucy, "Agnes was Devoted Devan, and Edith was the evil ninja. It was an epic battle of good versus evil."

The way his best friend described the game as if it were a legit movie summary made him chuckle. It was like he was reliving the bond they shared.

"I guess I couldn't have traumatized them _that_ much if this is what I have inspired," chuckled Devan.

"True that," confirmed Gru.

"And I'm really sorry for the horrible things me and Alex said, Devvy," apologized Susan with the upmost sincerity. "We were way too hard on you, and I know me making you sleep on the couch that night…didn't help, and we'll find a way to make it up to you. Me and Alex."

"You don't have t…" Devan was about to say.

But before he could finish his sentence, Devan and Susan find that Alex was no longer sitting next to them. In fact, he totally disappeared.

"Hey, where _is_ Alex?" asked Gru, having also noticed Alex's disappearance, along with Lucy.

The room turned to panic as the adults desperately searched the room, and eventually the whole house looking for Alex.

"Alex?" called Lucy.

"Alex? Sweetie, where are you?" called Susan.

"Alex? Son?" called Devan.

"Alex? Where are you, you little jerk?" called Gru.

* * *

Alex was not about to let his girlfriend remain under a hypnotic spell any longer. If anyone was going to turn her back, he wanted to be the one. While the parents were distracted, he snuck out of the Preston house and walked over to the Gru house. Conveniently, Gru and Lucy forgot to lock it, allowing Alex to get in easily. He also knew how to enter his lab, and after pressing the button on the living room chair, he was underground in no time.

* * *

There they were. His mesmerized girlfriend and her sisters trapped in a block of ice for the protection of themselves and others. Dr. Nefario was working on a computer, no doubt looking for a cure. But Alex wanted to be the one to cure them.

"Hey, Mar-Mar," he greeted, even though he knew Margo couldn't hear him right now. "Don't you worry. Alley's gonna make you alright again. Now, let's see…"

Alex searched the lab high and low for something to help the girls, and quickly found a flamethrower sitting on a shelf.

"Perfect!" he exclaimed.

Alex wasted no time grabbing the flamethrower and aiming it at the block of ice the girls are trapped in. This got Dr. Nefario's attention.

"Uh, I don't think you should be messing with that," warned the old scientist.

Alex ignored Nefario's concerns and was about to activate the flamethrower in order to thaw the girls.

"Don't worry," he said. "We're gonna wake you up, girls. We're gonna wake you up!"

Alex blasted the flamethrower at the ice block, successfully thawing out the girls. This prompted Nefario to run and hide in a corner to avoid the evil girls' wrath. What had Alex done?

"Dad tricked us!" said Margo angrily.

Alex was not afraid of the girls in their current frame of mind—not yet, anyway—and proceeded to do what he came here to do: make them remember who they were.

"There she is," he sweet-talked. "There's my girl."

"'Your' girl?" asked Margo, who seemed to be offended by this.

The girls began to slowly walk up to Alex menacingly, as he takes a few steps back.

"What are _you_ doing here?" asked Edith sinisterly.

"State your name and your business!" demanded Agnes.

Now the fear was kicking in. But still, Alex pressed on to get them to remember.

"Girls," he pleaded, "it's me…Alex. Alex Preston. I want to help you remember who you are. You're not villains!"

This plea did nothing to stop the girls from continuing to slowly walk up to Alex. They were getting closer to backing him up to a wall, making him grow increasingly more scared.

"How many times do we have to say this?" asked Edith angrily. "Villainy is in our blood!"

"What should we do with him?" asked Agnes.

Finally, they backed Alex up to a wall, and he knew he was trapped, and at the mercy of his brainwashed neighbors.

"Snap out of it and let me go?" suggested Alex meekly.

Margo responded to this by grabbing Alex and holding him against her face menacingly.

"Cute," she taunted. "Real cute."

At that moment, Alex knew he was in trouble. He screwed up. He should have left this to the adults, or at the very least, come up with a better plan. That's what he got for trying to be a hero like his dad. If he survived, he was going back to songwriting.

What were the girls going to do to him now? Were they going to lock him away or kill him so he would be out of their way, or were they going to hold him hostage or for ransom? Whatever they were going to do, Alex didn't want to think about it. He just wanted his Mar-Mar back.

* * *

_Alright. Only two chapters to go._


	19. The Gru Legacy Showdown

**Chapter 19:**

**The Gru Legacy Showdown**

After searching the entire house looking for Alex, the adults finally came to the conclusion that he must have slipped out of their sight and tried to awaken the girls by himself. This is obviously a reckless and unsafe decision considering the girls currently thought they were supervillains—not to mention that Alex didn't exactly have a working knowledge of hypnosis—but they couldn't blame him for what he tried to do, since he did it out of love. Still, they had to find him fast before something awful happened to him.

Just as the adults were headed to the Gru house for Alex, they saw a hatch on Gru's front lawn opening. Out of that hatch came…the girls! Flying a hovering vehicle stolen from the lab! With Margo at the wheel!

"GIRLS!" screamed Gru and Lucy.

Alex was tied up and hanging from their vehicle on a rope.

Something awful happened to him.

"ALEX!" screamed Susan in fear.

All the adults could do was stare in horror as the girls laughed wickedly with Alex as their hostage.

"I'm sorry, guys!" apologized Alex in fear. "I thought I could wake them up on my own!"

Still laughing wickedly, the girls took off in their vehicle with their hostage, leaving the rest of the adults devastated, and Susan on the verge of tears.

"Oh, no," she bemoaned, "they have my baby!"

All of a sudden, they heard a door burst open from the Preston house. They turned their heads to see…

Devoted Devan, back in his superhero costume.

"Not for long!" he bellowed.

Gru, Lucy, and Susan cheered wildly the minute they saw the Devan they recognized. He was going to save Alex, and bring the girls back to normal.

Devoted Devan was back.

* * *

While in their stolen vehicle with Alex tied up and hanging, Margo was flying her sisters and their hostage through the still-ruined city. They were glad that their destruction was still taking time to clean up, but they still had a toxic waste dump to break into. As they continued to fantasize about the powers they would have, they catch a glimpse of Devan pursuing them, as did Alex.

"Dad!" he cried.

The girls were a bit surprised to see this, since they thought he was retired. But nonetheless, as Margo continued to drive, Edith and Agnes attacked Devan with ray guns. Ray guns that fired devastating lasers capable of disintegration. Fortunately, Devan dodges each blast, and the lasers only succeeded in hitting buildings and air, but not people. So far, at least.

With every missed shot, they were growing more increasingly frustrated at the superhero surviving their murder attempts. Feeling it was time to up the game a bit, the girls turned their vehicle around as it unleashed more launchers from either side of it. They both fired huge bombs, which Devan once again dodged. Devan was secretly concerned about how much damage was being caused in the chase or if people were getting hurt, but the girls didn't care and pressed on. Suddenly, one of the fired bombs has been obliterated by a laser shot from seemingly nowhere. Devan looked back, and saw…

Gru and Lucy in jetpacks flying toward the battle. Devan smiled when he saw his best friend and former nemesis helping him stop the girls. And why wouldn't they? They were their parents.

The girls did not hesitate to fire their bombs at their parents, but they dodged as well, eventually getting a good enough angle to fire ray guns of their own. They both aimed for the rope Alex was tied up with, and fired, causing the beam to disintegrate the rope and free Alex, allowing Devan to catch him before he fell to the ground.

Now that Alex was safe, Devan flew away with his son his arms, intending to keep him from harm's way. Gru and Lucy would hold off their daughters as they pursued their parents and the Prestons. Hesitatingly, the AVL agents fired their lasers at the vehicle, causing it to become disabled and crash into the ground.

The girls were unharmed, but their crashed vehicle was no longer usable. Devan and Alex worriedly watched as Gru and Lucy approached their daughters with different types of ray guns. They bore a resemblance to the healing ray they used to cure Agnes' cut earlier.

That's because they were.

"We have to use these healing rays on them," declared Gru.

"These will snap them out of it," said Lucy confidently.

Quickly, the girls got out huge swords from the crashed vehicle, ready to take on their folks. Gru and Lucy fired their healing rays at the girls, but they all deflected the rays with their swords, and they bounced back and hit the buildings behind the adults. This continued for the next few attempts.

Well, at least one of those healing rays made a blind bystander see again. So, there was that.

The girls then went for a direct attack with their swords, but Gru and Lucy got out of their way, and completely disappeared from their sight. The girls were about to attack Devan and Alex, but their parents suddenly appeared behind them, and fired their healing rays at the girls again. This time, while Margo avoided the blast and Edith deflected it with her sword, one hit Agnes. The direct hit caused her to fall unconscious, the healing ray now going through her system.

One down, two to go.

Edith dropped her sword and began attacking Gru and Lucy with her ninja skills, doing karate yells all the way. And while Edith was ninja-fighting her parents, Margo was preparing to charge at them with her sword, but Devan stopped and restrained her with his super-strength. No matter how much she tried to break her grip, Devan was just too strong for her.

In the midst of Edith ninja-attacking her folks, they dropped both of their healing rays. Quickly, Devan grabbed one of them, and shot it at Edith when she wasn't looking, all while still restraining Margo. The healing ray made another direct hit as Edith lost consciousness and fell over.

Two down, one to go.

Enraged that her sisters have been bested, Margo got out of her restraints by biting Devan on the arm. With a loud scream, Devan let Margo go as she went back into the crashed vehicle to get out another disintegrator ray.

Margo was tired of playing games, so she blasted her disintegrator ray at all of the healing rays she saw, as well as Gru and Lucy's jetpacks to strip them of their flight.

"NO!" Gru and Lucy screamed.

With a sinister chuckle, Margo was about to disintegrate her parents too, but Alex stopped her and tried to wrestle the gun out of her hands.

"Margo, stop this!" cried Alex.

But Margo wouldn't stop this, and soon, Alex successfully wrestled the gun from Margo and smashed it onto the hard cement sidewalk.

"Way to go, son!" congratulated Devan.

Devan celebrated too soon as Margo got out a canister, and sprayed it into Devan's face, causing him to fall over unconscious.

Sleeping gas.

"DAD!" screamed Alex.

Margo grabbed Alex by the arm and used her rocket shoes to fly out of the area. Gru and Lucy saw her flying toward a forest. They wanted to save Alex from whatever dangers would await in that forest, but they didn't have jetpacks anymore, and they didn't know if Devan would regain consciousness in time.

They saw Edith and Agnes groaning and waking up. Instinctively, Gru and Lucy grabbed Edith and Agnes respectively and put them over their shoulders.

"We have to get back to the lab!" instructed Lucy. "Quick!"

As fast as their legs could carry them, Gru and Lucy ran out of the city with the intent of taking them back home. Hopefully they would find a way to save Alex and Margo at the same time.

"Where are we?" groaned Edith drowsily.

"Guys, what happened?" asked Agnes.

Obviously, that was the two girls waking up, their ambition for villainy apparently gone. Gru and Lucy were so relieved to see half of the kids back to normal, and hoped the other half would be soon enough.

"There's no time to explain!" replied Gru quickly. "We have to get you home!"

They knew the way home from where they were. And hopefully there, they could quickly come up with a plan to save Alex and wake up the last girl from the hypnotic spell.

* * *

Margo was flying Alex to a dark and dangerous forest, making the teenage hostage afraid of what his girlfriend was about to do with him. He just knew she was going to leave her somewhere to die. Sure enough, they were flying toward a liquid substance that didn't look safe.

"Is that…quicksand?!" asked Alex fearfully.

"This is where Devoted Devan's bloodline ends!" boasted Margo.

Yep.

Margo dropped Alex into the quicksand pit, and landed on the shore to watch him drown. Alex was beyond scared that this was it as he could feel himself sinking.

"Oh, no!" he cried. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!"

"Oh yeah," confirmed Margo coldly. "You're going down, Alex. Way down."

Alex panicked. Was he really going to be killed by his brainwashed girlfriend?!

"Oh my god!" cried Alex as he continued to sink. "Help me, Margo! I don't want to die!"

"Did you really think you could defeat the Gru legacy?" asked Margo sinisterly. "You may have stopped my sisters, but no one will stop me!"

Alex was now on the verge of tears as his legs were submerged into the quicksand. He wondered if Margo would wake up from her villain trance in time.

"Margo…please!" cried Alex. "You have to snap out of it! If you kill me, you'll start a war with my dad!"

"Bring it on!" boasted Margo.

As Alex was stomach-deep in quicksand, he broke down in tears. The hypnosis, the girls overpowering their parents, the coldness in Margo's voice, death staring him in the face…it was all too much. And unlike the last time he cried at the movie theater, Margo was not going to comfort him. This new _evil_ Margo wanted him to die. Why would she comfort her murder victim?

"I love you," sobbed Alex as he was chest-deep, "and I want you back, Margo Gru."

"I hate boys," Margo coldly replied.

Alex had to do something to wake his girlfriend up. He had only one option. As slim as the chances were of it working, he knew he had to try.

He began to sing the serenades he sang of Margo when they first started dating. He figured he had a few moments of life for a few verses. He had nothing to lose. Here goes nothing…

I wish I could have said then,

How I felt about you.

You are a true princess.

A sweetheart through and through.

Alex didn't look up just yet. He was too busy crying over the fact that his brainwashed girlfriend was about to let him drown to death.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for easing the pain.

Without you, my life

Would not have been the same.

As Alex was neck-deep, he thought he should get through one last verse before he sank.

Thank you for saving me

From anxiety's painful grip.

You understand me so well.

You're why I never quit.

"Alex!"

Upon hearing the fearful cry of his name, Alex looked up and saw Margo no longer looking cold towards him. She looked confused. She looked terrified.

"Are you…back?" asked Alex.

"Alex, grab my hand!" cried Margo as she was about to reach him with her hand.

She was back to normal.

It was his singing. His singing made her remember who she was.

This made Alex very happy. Even on the verge of death, Alex felt like a hero for bringing Margo back to reality with his music.

They tried to reach others' hands, but were too far apart. And Alex was chin-deep in the quicksand. He was minutes away from death, much to Margo's horror.

"I can't reach you!" she cried. "Maybe I can find a stick or something!"

"It's okay, Margo," consoled Alex as his head was sinking. "I can die happily, knowing I woke you up from the spell Hypno-Joe put you under. I lived a good life, Mar-Mar, and I have no regrets. I love you."

And with that, Alex was gone. His head was completely submerged into the quicksand—much to Margo's devastation.

"AAAAALEEEEEEEEX!" screamed Margo.

She had lost her boyfriend. Her Alex. The one person who cared for her as a human being. And apparently, she killed him under the influence of hypnosis. Overwhelmed with sorrow and guilt, Margo fell to her knees, broke down, and cried harder than she had ever cried in her life.

"Oh, Alley," she sobbed. "My dear, sweet Alley…I can't believe I killed you! I'm…I'm a murderer…"

So many dark thoughts were going through Margo's head as she continued to cry. How long did Alex have left to live under that stupid quicksand? What would she tell his parents? _Her_ parents? Would she have to go to juvie? She knew what happens to kids in juvie.

The mournful preteen cried for what felt like forever. And because of this, she didn't notice that the quicksand has suddenly lowered drastically. It was only when she lifted her head that she saw the quicksand near-gone. She also saw a pipe sucking all of it up. A pipe coming from a machine with a wheel being operated by…

Susan.

"Not on my watch!" shouted Susan as she continued to operate the machine.

No doubt she came here by way of the Quick Access Warp Zone. And with the familiar-looking emblem on the machine, it was obvious that it was made by Dr. Nefario specifically for this rescue mission.

Margo's face lit up when she saw Susan trying to save her son with the quicksand-sucking machine. With some luck, Alex may come out alive.

There was still a chance for her Alley's survival.

"I don't care if it's quicksand!" said Susan, determined. "It's not taking my boy away from me!"

Finally, after what was approximately two minutes, the quicksand was all gone, safely contained in the quicksand-sucking machine. The two females saw Alex at the bottom of the quicksand-less pit, lying unconscious.

"He needs CPR!" panicked Susan, her motherly instincts kicking in.

Margo looked down and noticed the rocket shoes she had on. She could fly down there and save Alex. She knew CPR, after all.

"I'm on it!" said Margo.

The rocket shoes took Margo to the pit of empty quicksand where Alex lied. This was it. She was going to save her boyfriend the way he saved her.

Without hesitating, Margo began to breathe into Alex's mouth for the CPR process, as well as compressing his chest. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she was getting anywhere, as Alex was still unconscious, maybe even…

"Alex, please don't do this!" begged Margo as she continued CPR.

Margo hadn't given up trying to revive Alex. Thankfully, she didn't have to, as Edith and Agnes have arrived on their own rocket shoes to see their big sister trying to save him.

"Compress his chest!" ordered Margo.

Edith nodded and pounded Alex's chest with her fist as Margo continued to breathe into his mouth. Agnes eventually joined Edith in pounding Alex's chest.

Their efforts finally paid off as Alex woke up coughing out quicksand that was caught in his lungs.

"…Margo?" asked Alex weakly.

All three girls were overjoyed upon seeing Alex alive. They cheered as they helped him up, and formed a group hug.

"Are you okay?" asked Agnes. "Say you're okay."

"I'm great," Alex warmly replied.

As the four kids continued to hug this out, the girls could feel the guilt they feel about all the destruction they caused in their hypnotic state fading away. Alex didn't think they would remember what they did, though he figured that either their folks had to tell them, or the graffiti tags of their image that they left throughout the city made them put the pieces together.

The girls spent the next minute or two constantly apologizing to the boy, and he assured them that it wasn't their fault and that he could never stay mad at them, especially not at the perfect girl. Then Margo blushed, Agnes went "aww", and Edith would make some stupid comment about how gross those two were in love. She _would_, but this time, she was either too happy that Alex was alive or too guilty about the destruction she and her sisters caused to feel grossed out. Perhaps she was growing out of her cootie phase.

* * *

All three girls used their rocket shoes to fly out of the empty quicksand pit and carry Alex to the surface.

They saw their parents waiting for them. Susan, Devan, Gru, Lucy…they were all there. Devan had regained consciousness just in time for the occasion, and they were all prepared to hug their children again. And once again, it must have been the Quick Access Warp Zone that brought them here.

"My baby!" cried Susan.

"My son!" cried Devan.

Alex ran up to his folks and allowed himself to be pulled into their warm hugs, and the girls were soon to follow as Gru and Lucy gave them a warm hug as well.

"My little kittens…" soothed Gru.

From there, a family-wide group hug was formed between the Grus and the Prestons. This was the time to be happy and to celebrate with the people you love most in the world.

Everyone was so happy to see each other alive and hypnosis-free. And for probably the first time in his life, Devan felt comfortable to be in the same place with Gru.

It was all over. Hypno-Joe was gone, the girls were back to normal, and Devan no longer saw Gru as a villain. Now, Devan was hoping everyone would still see him as a hero.

"I certainly hope this makes up for all of the awful things between us, Grus," said Devan as soon as the group hug was broken up.

"Your help in saving my girls _more_ than makes up for it," replied Gru warmly.

"Whatever happens," promised Lucy, "you will always be my best friend."

Devan smiled at this. It felt great to forgive and be forgiven.

But suddenly, they heard a very loud airship coming from the sky. Upon closer inspection, they found it was…Gru's ship, which has recently been modified Dru, complete with his insignia spray-painted on Gru's. As soon as the ship landed, a familiar white figure emerged, along with several yellow figures.

It was Dru and the Minions.

"I hear my nieces are under a hypnotic spell!" bellowed Dru. "Well, fear not, for I, Dru, am here to make them remember who they are!"

Dru's entrance was met with perplexed looks and confused faces from everyone. Lucy decided to be the one to break the ice.

"Uuuuuuh, Dru?" she said. "They're already back to normal."

"They are?" whined Dru, as if he were a toddler who was just told he was not getting dessert. "Aww, I took six flights to get here."

Dru's disappointment washed away when his nieces run up to him and hug him, giggling and laughing all the way. It's been a while since they've last seen their uncle, and they were all happy to see him again—and not just because of the possibility of the Minions returning, thus meaning less chores for them. Dru, a man infamous for giving surprise hugs himself, lets it happen and embraces his nieces in return.

Perhaps Dru would be able to take a little break from villainy and stay with his family for a little while. Somebody had a 13th birthday coming up soon.

* * *

_One chapter to go._


	20. After the Dust Settles

**Chapter 20:**

**After the Dust Settles**

It felt like just yesterday that Gru and co. had broken Hypno-Joe's spell. Margo, Edith, and Agnes have caused a lot damage in their villain trance, and it would take quite a bit of time to clean up. Thankfully, the police had enough evidence to recognize this as Hypno-Joe's work, and thus, no charges were pressed against the girls.

But despite the relief that they would not have to go to juvie, the girls still felt a little bad about the destruction they caused in their villain trance. Sometimes they would cry when they thought too hard about it, and whenever they did and their parents were around, they would immediately be comforted. They were also not allowed to go the city with their folks while it was being fixed. Not that they wanted to, since the flashbacks they were going through were bad enough.

Fortunately, it didn't take them long to get over it. Not only did they have the warm glow of familial love to thank for it, but Alex's company too. His continued relationship with Margo and playtime with her sisters had really helped them take their minds off the incident, and they felt closer to him than ever before. And by that time, they had already prettied themselves up to look like their old selves again, regular clothes and all.

Before long, the city was all fixed, and the girls were allowed to go on car trips with their parents again. And much to their relief, nobody recoiled in fear at the sight of them like they feared. Instead, there was sympathy and otherwise pleasant interactions between them and the various business staff and citizens they came across. It was good to know how understanding even people who weren't their family or neighbors were. Clearly, only Hypno-Joe was to blame for all of this, and the girls got a giggle from the horrible things that were said about him by the people who sympathized with them, offering their own share of mean things to say about him. Gru and Lucy weren't usually comfortable with their children saying nasty things about people, even if they were supervillains, but they let it slide in this case.

Unfortunately and fortunately, the police still hadn't found Hypno-Joe's body, suggesting he may not be dead after all. Unfortunately because the villain well-known for controlling peoples' minds is probably still out there. Fortunately because if he survived, that meant the girls didn't kill him, taking one burden off of their shoulders. You would think that the girls should be worried about the monster that made them hurt people. But they weren't. They felt like they were in good hands with both two super-cool secret agents for parents, and a superhero for a next-door neighbor. If Hypno-Joe ever did return…well, he'd better watch out, plain and simple.

But by far, the biggest relief they felt was their father and Devoted Devan officially ending their feud and becoming friends. When they saw how much they got along and how much they had in common, the girls had never been happier for their old man. Not to mention their mother bonding with the superhero for what felt like the first time since they were kids.

Gru was happy too, because this meant he got to fulfill his promise to his wife. From the day the Prestons moved in, Lucy had wanted them to get along, and now they are.

As you may remember, Susan and Alex were confident that this day would come soon enough. They both saw the good in Gru at Devan's absolute worst, and Gru could not thank them enough for their support. And because of this, Gru felt slightly more comfortable with Margo going into the dating world. Slightly.

And Gru's sacrifice was anything but senseless, as they always enjoyed each other's company. Alex would always charm Margo with his serenades, and she would always make him laugh with her dry humor. Adults that witnessed this would let out an "aww" every chance they got, as would Agnes. Not Edith, though. She had a long way to go before she grew out of her "boys and girls kissing are gross" phase.

As everybody was getting along, Margo's 13th birthday drew near. Preparations have been made for this special day. The day Margo becomes an official teenager. Gifts have been bought; family members have been called; and people have been addressing Margo as "the birthday girl." Dru had taken the rest of the month off from villainy so he could be there for his oldest niece on this momentous occasion. And since this meant the return of the Minions, that means the girls got a nice break from the chores. And after what they've been through, they could use it.

To make Margo's birthday extra-special, Alex had written another very special song for her, and everybody wanted to make a production out of it. Together, the Grus and the Prestons have set up a stage in Gru's lab for Alex to perform his song for the girl of his dreams. It reminded Gru of the time he made a private ballet recital for the girls shortly after officially adopting them. The stage's background was the same background for World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. Obviously, it was Alex's idea.

Finally, the time had come. Everyone had gotten Margo to come down to the lab to listen to the song Alex made her. It was a huge turnout. Aside from the parents and children of both families, there was also Marlena, Dr. Nefario, Devan and Susan's parents, Dru, and several Minions, with one of them even being a DJ for Alex. They were all sitting in folding chairs, and sitting in the front row was the birthday girl herself. And of course, all of them were wearing party hats.

After a few minutes of waiting, the curtains rose, Alex was tuning his guitar, and the Minion DJ did his thing.

It begins.

My dearest Mar-Mar.

The only girl for me.

It warms my heart,

To know that she's free.

...

No longer living under Miss Hattie.

Or a love puppet to Antonio.

Adopted by a loving family.

That's all I need to know.

...

Our fathers are friends now.

Hero and ex-villain.

Ending their quarrel,

Because they are willin'.

...

Not a day goes by, Mar-Mar,

Where I don't think of you.

Your lovely smile and face,

Your warmth and kindness too.

Margo enjoyed the song so much that she began waving her fingers as if she were a conductor.

Happy 13th birthday, Margo.

Enjoy your gifts from people that care.

You mean the world to me, Margo.

And I just want to make you aware.

Alex continued to sing his song for the birthday girl, and she never wanted it to end.

* * *

You would be forgiven for not thinking Hypno-Joe would be able to survive falling from a cliff, tumbling down various sharp rocks, and splashing into the water with various injuries. But on one dreary and rainy day, a dark figure had risen from the ocean depths while no one was looking. A completely drenched dark figure covered in sea barnacles.

Hypno-Joe was alive.

And he was not looking particularly happy, considering everything that happened to him. Nor was he looking like he was in great shape. The cut on his face from Edith's katana was still there, as were his various injuries from the rocks he fell on, making it hard for him to walk. Despite this, he still walked away from the shore he was washed up at. He had a place he wanted to be, and if he had to limp there, so be it.

* * *

Finally, after a long period of limping, Hypno-Joe has made it to his destination. It took forever, but he has reached the cemetery. And he saw it. The grave he came here to see. Slowly, he limped toward…

Scarlet Overkill's gravestone.

All of the anger he felt toward everybody who wronged him…Devoted Devan, Gru, the girls, the Anti-Villain League…it all faded away the closer he got to Scarlet's grave. When he was finally there, he reached into his top hat. There was one last item he had stored in there.

A beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Gently, he laid the bouquet onto the fallen supervillain's grave. Thankfully for Hypno-Joe, there was a bench next to the grave, which he really needed to sit on after all that limping. And sit he did, getting a perfect angle to speak to the tombstone.

"Hello, Aunt Scarlet," he began. "It's me, Hypno-Joe. Well, _you_ know me as Joe-Joe. That was always your favorite nickname for me. The name I went by when I was around you. And I guess it is here too. I wish I could hear it from your beautiful voice again. But I know it's impossible to revive the dead. Believe me, I tried. I don't even know if you would want to see me anyway, me being a great big disappointment and all. I failed you, Aunt Scarlet. I'm not the villain you wanted me to be. I could never defeat Devoted Devan. I've been arrested by the police countless times. I couldn't even make Susan fall in love with me for longer than three days. But worst of all was my worshipping of Gru, the villain who singlehandedly ruined your reputation. And all because of that stupid fight we had so long ago! What was I thinking?! I've been taking pointers from the wrong villain! My only arguable accomplishment was transforming Gru's daughters into supervillains, and even then, I forgot to make them obedient to me. I was lucky to survive my last encounter with them. I don't know if Gru managed to turn them back, and don't care much, really. I also don't care if his own daughters HORRIBLY MUTILATE HIM IN FRONT OF EVERYONE HE LOVES!...I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk like that. Death is hard enough for me. This is why I don't resort to murder unless I'm driven to. So, what's the plan now? Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure. I don't know what the future holds for Hypno-Joe. I mean, what can I do? Go back to California and make a grand entrance? I'm still a wanted criminal, dead or not. I don't even know where I can go to get these injuries healed up without somebody spotting me with the intention of arresting me. Again. Maybe it's for the best that they think I _am_ dead until I can sort out my life._ If_ I can sort out my life. But whatever happens to me, or whatever you may think of me now, I just want you to know that I love you, Aunt Scarlet. I love you like a mother. And never let it be said that I don't love Uncle Herb either. You both took me in when my parents disowned me, and I will never forget that. As far as I'm concerned, you are my real mother, and the only supervillain for me."

As soon as Hypno-Joe was finished speaking to his deceased aunt, he saluted the grave with his weak arm. Then, he stared at the sky while on the bench, trying to figure out what his next move should be. He figured he had some time to contemplate his life before staff began poking their noses into his business.

Then he saw her. A cloud formation of the late Scarlet Overkill. It looked almost _exactly_ like his dead aunt. The resemblance was so uncanny that he began to tear up, and before he knew it, he found himself breaking down in tears. He cried harder than he ever had in his life. He was so glad he was the only one at that graveyard, both because anyone who recognized him would call the police, and because he didn't want anyone to see the great Hypno-Joe cry.

It would be the first time anyone saw the villain cry.

He missed his aunt so much.

**The End**

* * *

_And thus concludes my first ever story posted on this website. Let me tell you that it has been one heck of a journey planning for and writing this wonderful story. I love how it turned out, and I hope you do too. If you enjoyed this story, feel free to post your thoughts in the review section. I'd love to hear what you think of it._

_I'd like to give a special shout-out to Swalker2000 for not only leaving at least a couple reviews, but also being the first person to favorite my story. Swalker is the author of many great stories, all of them Despicable Me related. It's safe to say that some inspiration from these stories made it onto here, such as the girls no longer calling their parents "Gru" and "Lucy", or this story ending on one of the girls' birthdays. So, receiving this particular positive feedback truly means a lot. __Check out this person's stories. You may like what you see._

_There's one more Despicable Me story that I'd like to give a shout-out to: "Despic4ble Me" by MysteryWriter2187, another story that features Gru's children going bad...willingly in this case. Incidentally, if you're familiar with a certain interview with Miranda Cosgrove about what she wants to see in Despicable Me 4, then it's not hard to see where both of our ideas come from. But in my opinion, as good of an idea as it sounds for the girls to turn to villainy, it seems a bit out-of-character for all three of them, so...being hypnotized it is!_

_So, what's my next story going to be? I'm not sure, actually. There are so many franchises I like that I could make my next story be about, but I don't know which one to pick. I'm sure I'll come up with something, but for now, I think I'll be focusing on other things._

_Take care, everyone! And remember, Hypno-Joe is watching you!_


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